CREDITS

The Hammer Group in Association with Thai Hammer Productions
Presents a Marc A. Hammer blog
Marc A. Hammer
Marc Goes to Thailand (and Cambodia)
Based on a character created by Gayle Giddins Hammer Marcus
Costume not really designed at all by Marc A. Hammer
Edited by Marc A. Hammer
Production Designed by the countries of Thailand and Cambodia
Written, Produced, and Directed by Marc A. Hammer

Air travel provided by All Nippon, Thai, and Bangkok Airways
Drinking Water courtesy of the Thai Bottling Company
Footware courtesy of Birkenstock, New Balance, and Sanuk
Fun provided by the people, places, and things of Thailand and Cambodia

Acommodations provided by:
Trang Hotel - Bangkok
Shanti Lodge - Bangkok
Libra Guesthouse - Chiang Mai
Various Hill Tribes - Trek from Chiang Mai
Charlie's House - Pai
Blue Bungalows - Pai
The Little Mermaid Hotel - Phuket
Khlong Jack Bungalows - Ko Lanta
Lanta Miami - Ko Lanta
Tarutao National Park - Ko Tarutao
Andaman Resort - Ko Lipe
Ban Chaofa Hotel - Krabi Town
Diamond Cave Bungalows - Rei Ley Beach
Royal Orchid - Ko Pha Ngan
Pingjum Bungalows - Ko Pha Ngan
Palita Lodge - Ko Pha Ngan

Morokot Hotel - Phnom Penh

Mikey's- Phnom Penh

Be Quest Angkor Hotel - Siem Reap

Shanti Lodge - Bangkok

Copyright 2005

Day 64 into Day 65 - THE FLIGHT HOME

Sunday, April 17th

All Nipon Air flight # 916

Depart Bangkok International 11:50PM

Arrive Tokyo Narita 7:55AM - Monday, April 18th

Boeing 767-300

Duration 6 hours, 5 minutes

Monday, April 18th

All Nippon Air flight # 6

Depart Tokyo Narita 5:10PM

Arrive Los Angeles International (LAX) 11:10AM

Boeing 777-200

Duration 10 hours

*** TODAY I WAS ABLE TO CROSS SOMETHING OFF MY LIST OF "THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE"

I was able to leave the airport during my layover and I took a train into Narita and had SUSHI - I've always wanted to eat Sushi in Japan - it was great! I'm now back at the airport waiting for my flight from Narita to Los Angeles.

Day 64 - Sunday, April 17 - Bangkok

I took a ride with the annoying American girl from last night to some huge electronics mall as she was looking for a new CD "walkman". We took a tuk tuk and were on our way by 11AM. It was a big 5-story mall with nothing but electronics and music / DVD's. There were computers galore, digital cameras by the thousands, and a few stalls of junk on the bottom level.

We were out of there within 2 hours and I only bought a few things - one of them NOT being a new computer although if I knew that place existed, I would have gone in February and bought a 12-inch Powerbook as there were 2 or 3 stores that carried MAC products. I did manage to find a LARGE suitcase on the bottom floor in the miscellaneous section.

We got a tuk tuk back to Shanti and on the way I realized that somehow the mercury in the last few hours had climbed up to the unbearable to be outside level. I packed my new suitcase and could barely lift it. I can't wait to see what happens when I go through customs at LAX as I hear a few weeks ago they put a ban on WOOD PRODUCTS coming in from Asia as there were some deadly beetles that were being brought into the country unknowingly in various wooden objects.

I then took a walk through the market to the other side of the canal to the flower market as I wanted to buy a few things for the owner and the girls at Shanti for being so great. I found 3 great plants and brought them back and gave them as a token of my appreciation.

By this time, it was so hot and humid that I had to get inside. It was over 100 degrees with ridiculous humidity and it was no time or place for the human species to be outdoors. I hung out at Shanti, shot the shit with Pan and some of the girls and made final preparations for my departure. I went to the market to get some local fruit (i.e. mangosteens and rambutans - see below link) and finally tried Durian. It's not horrible but something I don't want to acquire a taste for. I said I would try it before I left Thailand and I did.

The rest of my few hours in Thailand were spent in the common area (restaurant / bar area) of Shanti just talking to fellow travelers some of whom were also heading home and some that had just started their Thailand adventure as Bangkok seems to be the starting point for most seeing Thailand even if they are mid-trip and coming from neighboring countries.

I said my final goodbye's to Shanti, all the workers and extended family including Rochelle in the travel / internet place and got in the taxi to the airport at 9:00PM.

I'm still not experiencing any of the "sweet" of the "bitter-sweet" feelings that some people talk about prior to returning home from traveling. I've said it numerous times but this really has been the trip of a lifetime and wont forget it as long as I'm capable of remembering.

http://www.samui.org/fruits/

Day 63 - Saturday, April 16 - Bangkok

At 9AM, I met Omar and Steph for breakfast. After a good nourishing meal and a few miscellaneous delays, we got a taxi to the sky train and got to CHATUCHEK, the weekend market.

I had heard that there are over 15,000 stalls selling everything from A-Z but you really have no idea. I was also told that it is hot, sweaty, crowded, cramped, and the smells from the food sections get trapped in the tiny little aisles - YOU HAVE NO IDEA!

There was one saving grace - it was only 95 degrees today with 92% humidity so it was tolerable!

The market is probably the best of the huge markets I've been to and although it can be hot and sweaty in sections, there are a few big outdoor aisles that you can escape to for a breather. There is everything from local Thai souvenirs, food stalls, clothing, housewares, a plant section, a pet section, and everything else you can possibly imagine. It's MASSIVE!

We split up as there was no way we would be able to keep up with each other and coincidentally met back up at about 4PM when I was walking toward an exit. We had a light lunch at the market and then took a cab back to Shanti.

We hung out in the restaurant area until 7:00PM at which time we all took a tuk tuk to Khao San Road. They were heading to catch their bus to Ko Tao and I went along for the ride as there are a few things I needed to pick up - one being a nice BIG new suitcase to transport all the crap I've managed to accumulate along the way. I didn't buy the suitcase but I did manage to buy a few more things to put IN the suitcase once I get it. Tomorrow morning I will assess what space I need and come back to get one that will fit everything.

I decided to walk back to Shanti as it will probably be one of my last evening walks amongst the heat filled streets of Bangkok.

Back at Shanti, I had a drink with the Spaniards I met yesterday and downloaded some info as they are about to embark on a similar journey and wanted some suggestions. A few beers later, I learned their names are Nico, Pablo, and Pau and they're in Thailand because they were working in Australia without the proper work visas and were kicked out of the country.

Two American girls joined us for a little bit and I was glad when they decided to go to Khao San Road to check out the "scene" there as one of them was quite annoying and almost forced me into my room early as she was giving Americans a bad name.

We called it a night at midnight and I went to sleep for my very last time in Thailand.

Day 62 - Friday, April 15 - Siem Reap to Bangkok

Kah picked me up at 9AM and took me to the airport. I boarded my litte prop plane back to Bangkok and got a taxi when I landed back to Shanti.

Something I haven't talked about yet is SONGKRAN. Songkran is THE THAI NEW YEAR and it's going on right now. Depending on where you are in Thailand will determine how many days it's celebrated. In Chiang Mai, they celebrate for a week. Here in Bangkok, they celebrate for 3 days.

Songkran is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place" as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the "Water Festival" as people believe that water will wash away bad luck.

The Songkran tradition is recognized as a valuable custom for the Thai community, society and religions. The value for family is to provide the opportunity for family members to gather in order to express their respects to the elders by pouring scented water onto the hands of their parents and grandparents and to present them gifts including making merits to dedicate the result to their ancestors. The elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity.


Now, as you can probably tell, that is the literal meaning of what the holiday means. HOWEVER, it's not really about POURING WATER ON THE HANDS OF YOUR ELDERS at all as it's really a GIANT WATER FIGHT ALL OVER THE STREETS of every city and town in Thailand.

Everyone is fair game including policemen. Basically, if you are out on the streets, you better make sure you don't have anything on you that can be ruined as you will be soaked head to toe in water within 3 seconds! All businesses and government offices are closed and people drive around in trucks with giant water guns and buckets of water throwing it all over the place. Usually, the back of pick-up trucks are loaded with people and giant outdoor garbage pails filled with water and the people in the back of the trucks take their indivivdual pails of water and throw it everywhere and on anyone driving by or standing in the street. Then on the strret corners, you have kids standing with their guns or pails of water waiting for the cars to drive by so they can do the same. You have never seen anything like this before. I've attached a link below that has some pictures from last year on Khao San Road in Bangkok.

http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/songkran/index2004.shtml

I got back to Shanti and it was mayhem. I managed to get inside without getting wet as I was ready to celebrate but wanted to put my packs down and change so I was in proper attire.

Well, I went out on the street and sure enough withing seconds I had kids squirting me with their guns and in only a matter of minutes, I had a pail of water thrown over my head and from that point on, it was war! The girls from Shanti were out on the streets enjoying themselves and enjoying getting all the farangs soaked. NOBODY IS SPARED! There were 80 year old women throwing water and getting in on the action! There is no safe place in the entire city (COUNTRY) unless you are inside closed doors and Shanti doesn't have any doors. It opens right up to the street and there was water all over the place in the restaurant area.

A few hours later, I came inside, dried off, and starting chatting with a few various groups of people who had all had enough as they have been here for the whole time and wanted life to return to normal as they had shopping to do before boarding their flights back to their home countries. It's difficult to shop if you aren't buying waterproof merchandise.

I had dinner with Mike Levy, a NY Jew who now lives in Clairmont, California, and his 2 friends Ellis and Rick. Ellis is in a band and is playing at the Hard Rock in LA on April 28th.....anyone interested? Albert?

I then went over and talked with Omar and Steph from Australia and we made plans to go to the Weekend Market in the AM. I hung out in Shanti's internet shop for a while as it seemed that a party had begun to form there.

It wasn't until just after 1AM that I retired to room #4, the same room I had the first time I was here back in February.

PHOTOS - THE LAST OF THE ISLAND LIFE AND CAMBODIA

I have just published 2 photo albums

The Last of Island Living

and

Cambodia

Look at them both as there are some good shots in both even if you are tired of seeing beaches!

There are some duplicates in the Cambodia album but I'm too tired to delete them and I'm too tired to caption some of them because it means looking up to see exactly where they were taken.

As always, this is just a sampling as I have 6 rolls of 35mm that should have some pretty awesome shots as well.

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=333151113583484197/l=46154804/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Day 61 - Thursday, April 14 - Siem Reap / Angkor Wat

My driver, KAH, picked me up at 8AM and he took me to see:

Neak Pean
East Mebon
Pre Rup
Banteay Kdei

I was back at my hotel by 2PM and tried to absorb everything I had just seen in the past 3 days. I have never in my life seen such sights and never again will I.......unless, of course, if I make it to Machu Picchu in the course of my lifetime.

I walked around town, had lunch, and hung out at the guesthouse next door from my hotel which seems to have more "travelers" than where I'm staying.

Met a few people, had a drink, and then walked around the city some more and did a little souvenir shopping.

Grabbed a quick dinner at a local Khmer restaurant and was back at the hotel just chilling out for the rest of the night.

I had arranged for Kah to pick me up at 9AM to take me to the airport. I gathered all my goodies, crammed them all in my pack and went to bed.

LOOK FOR PHOTOS COMING YOUR WAY VERY SOON!!!!!!

Day 60 - Wednesday, April 13 - Siem Reap / Angkor Wat

I was picked up at 5:20AM and headed out to the temples. Our first stop was Angkor Wat to see sunrise.

While there, I met Lisa and John, a couple from England; Lisa, 32, a native of Iowa and living in England for the past 16 years who is dating John, 52, an English bloak who is twice divorced with 5 kids. We hit it off and spent the rest of the day together. Today's blog is going to be very short as what I said in yesterday's posting holds true for today.

There are no words to describe the temples. Whatever I would say would, in no way, shape or form, do them any justice.

Therefore, I am going to list the places I saw today, and you can do a google search if you are interested in seeing photos or reading about any of them. I saw the following sights from 5:30AM - 2PM:

Angkor Wat*
The South Gate of Angkor Thom*
The Bayon*
Terrace of Elephants
Ta Prohm*
Ta Keo
Preah Khan*
Ta Keo
The Baphuon
Terrace of the Leper King

* these are the ones you should look up if you are looking any of them up at all.

At this point, it was BEASTLY HOT, HUMID, and we were all exhausted. We went back to their hotel, had a drink, lunch, chatted and we decided not to go back to the temples for sunset. They are leaving tomorrow for Phnom Penh and I told my driver to pick me up at 8:00AM as I don't need to see another sunrise and 8-12noon or 1:00PM will be enough for me. We hung out for a few hours, had a few Angkor Beers, and at sunset, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to my hotel.

I walked around to some of the local bars at about 9PM and found a few really great hang-out spots.....one being a bar called "The Angkor What?". I walked around for a bit, popping in and out of some watering holes and was back at the hotel by 11PM.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Day 59 - Tuesday, April 12 - Travel to Siem Reap

I woke up to allow enough time to pack and be in the bar area of Mickey's at 6:30AM to catch my ride to the boat.

I also learned that I am a moron!

I was so excited and told so many people that I was taking a boat up the Mekong river to Siem Reap and that was a big lie. The Mekong doesn't GO to Siem Reap!

The river you travel is the Tonle Sap River which turns into the Tonle Sap Lake

Well, anyway, the boat left prompty at 7AM and we passed some great early morning Cambodian sights. Lots o' homes on the river, lots o' early morn' fisherman, lots o' early morn' bathers, and lots o' early morn' smells on the brownest and dirtiest river I've ever traveled on. The looked like a floating submarine and whilst some people opted for the inside seating, a few of us opted to sit on the "roof of the submarine" against the section where the luggage was stored. The morning sun was great and it felt nice to be back on a boat even if it wasn't Ko Lipe or Ko Lanta.

Midway through the journey, we had to switch boats. This is the norm but noone bothers to tell you that before you get on the boat. The river from this point gets real shallow and the new boat is smaller, lighter, and faster. We passed a few "floating villages" which were some of the coolest things I've seen to date. Once again, everyone going about their normal daily routines while the boat of farangs came speeding through leaving them nothing but scared fish and big wakes that shook their villages.

Near Siem Reap, we came to the largest of the floating villages which is actually in Lonely Planet as something to go to when you are templed out. We changed boats one last time. When we approached, there were kids sitting in what looked like large metal wash basins paddling over to us to beg for money. It was the cutest but sadest sight. Of course, they want you to take a photo so you feel obligated to give them some money. Of course, I did.

Once on the mainland, we arrived at another little fishing village and I was met by a driver that was arranged by Mickey's. I checked into Be Quest Angkor Hotel and walked around town a bit. Like Phnom Penh, Siem Reap has a lot of charm and a lot of bars and restaurants to cater to the people who flock here to see the Temples of Angkor. It really is the only reason people come to Siem Reap.

I was back at the hotel by 4:15PM. My driver came to pick me up and drove me to Angkor Wat for sunset. It's a great drive from the center of town. Just a kilometer or 2 from town, it turns into a beautiful tree lined road with thousands of tuk tuks, cars, and motorbikes transporting all the sightseers to and from the temples. Every second of the drive was a Kodak moment. It was like driving through a great country road with lush green vegetation all around. I bought a 3-day pass and entered the grounds of the temples.

From this point on, I am speechless. There really are no words to describe how incredible Angkor Wat is. I walked around for a few hours and, this coming from the guy who saw the Sistine Chapel in 46 seconds, I easily could have spent another few hours there.

For those who just know the name but aren't really sure exactly what, where, when, or why, feel free to click the link below. Another option is to do a google search for ANGKOR WAT as 411,000 sites will come up and you can click on any and get carried away by it's unbelievable beauty, grandeur, and immensity of it all. Angkor Wat is just one temple, the largest one of over 100, which make up "The Temples of Angkor". Today was sunset at Angkor Wat. Tomorrow, I'm being picked up at 5:15AM to see SUNRISE at Angkor Wat. From there, we will venture on to see some of the other temples of Angkor and will finish the day with SUNSET at Phnom Bakheng.

So, back in town, I walked around a bit, ran into some Australians I met on the boat, had a drink at "The Red Piano", a pretty great bar with great atmosphere until it was past 9PM and I excused myself so I could shower and get into bed to prepare for my early day.

By no means is this meant to insult anyone's intelligence:

www.sacredsites.com/asia/cambodia/angkor_wat.html

Day 58 - Monday, April 11 - Phnom Penh

My last day in Phnom Penh was spent hanging around and running to see the various miscellaneous sights I wanted to see before heading to Siem Reap. This is an amazing city and you should not listen to those who say there's nothing to see here. Book your tickets and come visit. The beautiful scenery as backdrop against the extreme poverty and filth, is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It rivals Havana.

I booked my boat ticket for tomorrow morning and went to the Royal Palace, dressed appropriately, at 8:00AM. It was already too hot to be wearing pants and a shirt! I walked over to the palace which is just a few minute walk from Mickey's, bought my admission ticket ($3 + $2 to bring a camera in) and started my self-guided tour as there was no way I could have hired a tour guide and been bored to tears for 2 hours as he/she told me of the significance of all the stupas, buddhas, buildings, pagodas, etc. Like with the Museaum, I was in and out in 30 minutes and went right back to the hotel to change. I hung around for a bit in sidewalk cafe of Mickey's and then went for another stroll around the city.

I stumbled back upon Wat Phnom which I now know is just a few minutes from the hotel if taking the direct route and paid $1 admission which allowed me to walk up the hill to the giant pagoda and pray to Buddah.

After I was finished with my business up top, I spent some time at the base of the hill. Although a bit of a circus at times with the beggers, women and children selling drinks, children selling birds in cages that you pay to set the birds free, and an elephant ride around the base of the hill, I had fun. As annoying as it can be, I'm actually finding it hard to be annoyed as they are just trying to make any sort of living they can. Also at the base of the hill amongst the numerous park benches and vendors were at leat 100 monkeys both in the trees and on the ground just hanging about waiting for someone to feed them some scraps of the food and fruit.

On my way back to Mickey's, I took a different route, this time walking through some streets off the beaten path and stumbled across yet another street market along a "park" where the homeless were using a spiget to bathe. There was an family of 5 gathered around a spiget in the center of a grasy field as the mother and father soaped up the kids. I walked over to a street vendor, bought something that looked like a small whole chicken hanging on a hook and brought it over to them. The appreciation in their eyes was priceless and now I don't have to go to temple to atone for my sins next Yom Kippur.

Stopped at Lyon d'Or, a little french cafe on the river, for a quick lunch and ran into a german girl who I've now seen 3 times since I've been here. I now know her name is Eva. We had lunch together and spent a few hours talking and relaxing out of the dangers of the extreme midday heat.

After lunch we walked around a bit, and ended up at Mickey's where I went upstairs for a bit and she sat in the sidewalk restaurant catching up on her journal.

I walked around some more, occasionally picking up a little trinket or 2 from various shops and made my way back to the hotel where I plopped down and napped for a little while. Walking around in this heat all day really gets to you.

I woke up, put on my walking shoes (birks) and ventured out yet again for a light early dinner with Eva. We found what looked like a good Khmer restaurant and had some great chicken curry that was served inside a carved out coconut that was shaved of the outer layer as if it were a jack-o-lantern. I took a picture as it was just as impressive as my meal on Lipe that came in the carved out pineapple and I know Les and Marlow are going to want to see a photo.

From there, we hung out on the riverbank enjoying some people watching and having an occasional chat with english speaking locals. For the most part, I'm finding the Cambodians very friendly and easy to talk to.

We then went to FCC for a few drinks and we headed back to Mickey's to hear some live music. The owner of Mickey's is an American named Doug and he plays great music and books great bands from what I can tell to perform on the little stage in the bar area. By 1AM, it was time for bed as my ride was at 6:30AM to take me to the pier.

Day 57 - Sunday, April 10 - Phnom Penh

Had a great night sleep in my room with air con at Morokot and woke up in time for my 8:30AM pick up. I had arranged with Sophan to bring me to Micky's for $3. Little did I know, but any of the tuk tuk's out front of Morokot would have taken me for $2. Once again, oh well.

I got to Micky's, my room was waiting for me, and its clearly a lot nicer than Morokot. I watched some TV in the room until it was time to venture out in the Cambodian streets to see what great smells and sights awaited me today. I got all caught up with the royal wedding, papal funeral and even learned that MG/ROVER filed Chapter 11 after over 100 years in business. This was the 2nd or 3rd time in 2 months I've seen TV.

Walked and walked and walked, popping in and out of shops, temples, and "mini-marts" for the occasional rehydration exercise as it was oppressively hot, humid, and very little breeze to evaporate the sweat that was pouring off of my body. Oh, how I missed the days of traveling in the city. I've gotten so used to being a vegetable on a hammock with an ocean to jump in and out of that I almost forgot how invigorating it was to lose 3 liters of water an hour in this intense heat. By the way, the "3 liters" is an estimate as I read that the average person can lose 1 liter an hour when in locations where the heat is at least 15-20 degrees warmer than what they are used to and I am clearly not "average".

I went to some Western joint for lunch and had a vegetarian pizza and it was pretty tasty. The riverfront is "westernized" a bit but as soon as you venture to other parts of Phnom Penh, there is Cambodia staring you in the face again. After lunch, I walked to the National Museum and was in and out in less than 30 minutes (and that was including time I spent taking some pictures of the gardens). The museum is housed in a pretty spectacular building but the exhibits are not as great. That is, of course, if your thing is seeing the eight-armed statue of Vishnu from the 6th or 7th century AD. If pottery and bronzes dating from the pre-Angkorian periods of Funan and Chenla (4th to 9th centuries) are your thing, then I advise you to book your tickets to Phnom Penh now!

From there, I walked a little further to the Royal Palace to find out that it's closed from 12-2PM. I walked around some great boulevards of Phnom Penh and saw some great slices of life of locals going about their Sunday. It was just as if they were sitting in their homes eating bagels and lox and reading "The New York Times". I wandered more and went back to the Palace to find out I didn't pass the drss code. Apparently, farangs dripping sweat in tank tops and shorts were not acceptable to visit the Royal Palace. I decided to bail on the palace for today and go tomorrow morning at 7:30A or 8:00A with a pair of pants and a shirt before it get's too hot.

Soooooo, back on my feet to walk around some more. By the way, the annoying thing here are the numerous methods of transport and the locals who drive them. I think I mentioned this already, but the 4 common modes of transport are taxi, tuk tuk, motorbike and cyclo. It is IMPOSSIBLE to walk more than 2.4 feet without someone asking you if you need a mode of transport. If you say "NO", you can be 100% certain that there is another driver lurking in his shadow who will ask you the same question who may even be asking if you need the same mode of transport that you just turned down. I think I say "no, thank you" at least 35,654 times a day here.

From the palace, I took a tuk tuk to one of the "backpacker strips" called Boeng Kak along the eastern shore of Lake Boeng Kak to check out the way I'm SUPPOSED to be seeing Phnom Penh because a room on the river is not how I am thinking most "backpackers" see the city. Well, I was right. This place was the slums of slums and I finally got to see how the poor local Cambodians live as they too are living in huts along the mosquito infested lake, some of them with just a mere tarp hung across 4 poles as protection from the elements. Most of the guesthouses are built on wooden platforms over the lake, a seriously polluted body of water that no matter how many beers you have, should NOT be entered. The common areas of most of these places are pretty cool and social, but the whole area is pretty gross. I was beginning to feel slightly guilty that I wasn't staying there but got over it pretty quickly. HOWEVER, this is the area where I would be staying if I wanted to stay at my $3-$5 a night budget. From there, I walked further and came across the Raffles Le Royal Hotel which was just a 5-10 minute walk away from the drek I just came from. This hotel is absolutely amazing and being that I am a chameleon, I was able to go in, transform myself from backpacker mode to 5-star hotel mode, and fit right in. I had a glass of lime juice for $3.50 which came on a silver platter with a bowl of cashews dipped in sugar on the side. I was told that part of "The Killing Fields" was set at the hotel but shot in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Anyway, back on the feet again, I came across Wat Phnom which is set on top of a 27m-high tree covered knoll and the only "hill" in town. It is surrounded by a pretty park and was a good Kodak Moment with a giant pagoda sitting on the very top of the hill. For some reason, I wasn't allowed to climb the steps to the top of the hill - I think someone of importance was up there - who knows, it may have been Tin Tin as he seems to be the most important and famous person here in Cambodia.

I then hired a cyclo for an hour to drive me around parts of the city I haven't seen yet and although they travel very slowly, it was relaxing and a good time was had by all (well, me). A cyclo is a bicycle that's outfitted with a little one-man seat (sort of like a little cart) in front so the bicycle driver is in back of you and he peddles you around. After the hour, he dropped me back at the hotel, I had a refreshing drink at the bar, and contemplated sitting right at the bar all night and not moving.

That's exactly what I did. I made friends with some other travelers who follow the "mid-range places to stay" section of Lonely Planet. At one point, we went down the street to FCC (Foreign Correspondent's Club) for a drink as it's a "definitive drinking hole for tourists and expats alike" and then back to Mikey's.

Across from Mikey's, along the riverfront, the evening was underway as it seems that the locals love to just hang out, sing, dance, sell stuff, and loiter all night in the hot, humid, sweaty air. Mind you, some of these people don't have a home to go home to but I think the majority of them do.

Shortly after midnight, I made my way upstairs and went to bed. The palace was awaiting me with my acceptable attire.

PHNOM PENH - AN EDUCATIONAL POST

PHNOM PENH IN BRIEF:
Picturesquely situated at the confluence of three rivers, the city of Phnom Penh radiates out from the small wooded hill from which it was named. The spiritual heart of the city is the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda, and it's adjacent Buddhist monastery. Add to this a treasure trove of colonial-era French architecture and long, wide boulevards, and you have Phnom Penh. All but deserted in 1975, the city has since bounced back from its enforced slumber, gaining in charm and convenience with each passing year.

Following are Lonely Planets descriptions of some of the more powerful and disturbing events of my yesterday:

TUOL SLENG MUSEUM:
In 1975 Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). It soon became the largest center of detention and torture in the country. Between 1975 and 1978 mor ethan 17,000 people held at S-21 were taken to the extermination camp at Choeung Ek, detainees who died during torture were buried in mass graves in the prison grounds.

S-21 has been turned into the TUOL SLENG MUSEUM which serves as a testament to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. Like the Nazi's, the Khmer Rouge was meticulous in keeping records of it's barbarism. Each prisoner who passed through S-21 was photographed, sometimes before and after torture. The museum displays include room after room of photographs covering the walls from floor to ceiling; virtually all of the men, women, and children depicted were later killed.

As the Khmer Rouge "revolution" reached even greater heights of insanity, it began devouring it's own children. Generations of torturers and executioners who worked here were in turn killed by those who took their places.

When the Vietnamese army liberated Phnom Penh in early 1979, it found only 7 prisoners alive at S-21. Fourteen others had been tortured to death just as Vietnamese forces were closing in on the city. Photographs of these gruesome deaths are on display in the rooms where their decomposing corpses were found. The graves of these 14 prisoners are in the center courtyard of S-21.

Altogether, a visit to S-21 is a profoundly depressing experience. The sheer ordinariness of the place makes it even more horrific: the surburban setting, the plain school buildings, the grassy playing area where children kicked around balls, rusted beds, instruments of torture and wall after wall of harrowing black-and-white portraits conjure up images of humanity at its worst. It demonstrates the darkest side of humanity that lurks within us all. Tuol Sleng is not for the squeamish.


THE KILLING FIELDS OF CHOEUNG EK:
Between 1975 and 1978 about 17,000 men, women, children, and infants (including 9 Westerners) who had been detained and tortured at S-21 were transported to the extermination camp of CHOEUNG EK. They were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting precious bullets.

The remains of 8985 people, many od whom were bound and blindfolded, were exhumed in 1980 from mass graves in this one-time longan orchard; 43 of the 129 communal graves here have been left untouched. Fragments of human bone and bits of cloth are scattered around the disinterred pits. More than 8,000 skulls, arranged by sex and age, are visible behind the clear glass panels of the Memorial Stupa (a dome-shaped monument, used to house Buddhist relics or to commemorate significant facts of Buddhism) , which was erected in 1988.

Day 56 - Saturday, April 9 - Bangkok - Phnom Penh

As I always like to say, 4:30AM came rather quickly. I got my stuff together, (my pack is pretty empty and light now) and waited downstairs for the taxi. Like in the past, they came on time and I was on the way to the airport by 5:02AM.

I checked in, went through security and as the x-ray man said to his helper, "this bag needs check", I hit myself on the head and realized I didn't take my Swiss Army knife out of my day pack which I carry on and put it in my checked bag. Needless to say, this led to confiscation of my knife and a little extra security check of my bags and my person. I was slightly pissed at myself as this was the knife I bought at the border in Malaysia and have been using it regularly for a myriad of tasks. Oh well.

I boarded Bangkok Airways Flight # 920 to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Please, do not let Bangkok Airways cater your next affair.

Once on the ground, after only one hour of fly time, I got my ön-the-spot-Tourist-Visa and was out of the airport in no time. I found a taxi and told Sophan, the driver, to take me to "The Riverview Hotel" which I saw in Lonely Planet. For some reason, I let him talk me out of it and went to the hotel that he recommended, Morakat Hotel. I also hired him for the day to drive me around and take me to some of the sights. We went to the hotel, it seemed ok, in a slightly seedy area, and just a few blocks from the Central Market. I got a room with air con, threw my bags down and went with Sophan to start my day.

Our first stop was TUOL SLENG MUSEUM. While there, I learned a lot about what went on under the Khmer Rouge and was horrified beyond belief. I can only compare my feelings while walking around the museum as similar to the ones I had when I visited Anne Franks House or Dachau. Obviously, those 2 having a little more meaning to me but this was equally as disturbing. Read the blog post entitled "PHNOM PENH - an educational post" for a little more information.

At the museum, I met Patsy, an Englishwoman who now lives and teaches in Sri Lanka. We walked around the museum together with Sophan giving us as much detail as he knew. His English is pretty good. The people who do speak English here seem to speak better than the Thai who do. Of course, that just may be a generalization with no real facts to back it up.

I invited her to hop in the car with us to our next stop, "The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek", which we know just as "The Killing Fields". After all, I had paid for the car for the day and she was at the mercy of local taxí's, motos, and cyclo's.

We drove about 25 minutes and finally arrived in the rural surroundings of "The Killing Fields". I hired a tour guide as there is little description of what you are looking at and without his guidance, I was not aware that wherever I walked, I was walking on massive graves. Once again, disturbing and emotionally draining. More on this on the educational post of the day.

After this moving experience, he took us to the Russian Market where I neither met any Russians or saw any Russian products but nonetheless, it was a pretty big, crowded, hot, "ïndoor" market with lots of stuff lined up on small, dark, daunting rows and rows of vendors. As you move from row to row, it gets darker, the rows narrower, and the products change. All the apparel is grouped in one section of multipe rows, all the wood carvings in another row(s) textiles in another, silver in another, musical instruments in another, car parts in another, tools in another, stationery goods in another, etc. etc. etc. Apparently, it's called the Russian Market because it's where the Russians shopped during the 1980's. There are few Russians left in Phnom Penh at this point in time.

Patsy and I had lunch at "Jars of Clay", a small cafe that serves up coffees, and "light and tasy bites like wraps and salads". It was great to eat some western food for a change.

On the way back to the center of town, we had to drop Patsy off at California Hotel, one of the hotels / guesthouses I was contemplating from Lonely Planet. Once we got there, I realized I made a huge mistake and needed to move to the river in the morning. I said goodbye to Patsy and made a plan to meet back at her hotel for dinner at 7:30P. This gave me an hour and a half to relax, unwind, and decompress from the days events - of which I did none.

Back at Morakat, I dropped off some bags of purchases from the day, and walked over to the Central Market or otherwiswe known as the dark-yellow Art Deco Psar Thmei. "The central domed hall resembles a Babylonian temple and some claim it ranks as one of the largest domes in the world. It has 4 wings filled with stalls selling gold and silver jewelery, antique coins, fake name-brand watches, clothing and lots of other crap. All around the main building are stalls selling scarves, stationery, household items, sarongs, flowers, second-hand clothes (usually from the US or Europe), and of course, a "fresh food" section. I walked around for as long as I could take it and then walked back to Morakat and showered for dinner.

I met Patsy at her hotel and had a drink. We walked around to some other hotels that line the river and I found a great place called "Mikey's". It was way more than I wanted to spend, but talked them down to $25 and paid a night in advance. I was excited to get out of Morakat and get to the river in the AM. My room has a great balcony overlooking the river and it seems like a great scene in the open lobby bar with tables lining the bar and out on the sidewalk.

We had dinner at a Khmer restaurant, which was very similar to Thai Food, chatted the night away and called it a night.

Day 55 - Friday, April 8 - Bangkok

I woke up and realized the stick and sweat was ok on the islands. Here, in hot Bangkok, with no breeze and no ocean to look and jump into to cool down, air con is my preference.

I waited for Rochelle to get in but she never did so I showered and took a tuk tuk to Khao San Road to check with a travel agent. Much to my chagrin, the flights to Cambodia are expensive. After searching around, as a budget traveller, I decided to do the responsible thing, TAKE THE BUS.

The one way bus ticket from Bangkok to the border of Proipet and then from Proipet to Siem Reap is 300 baht. I'm told the ride from the border to Siem Reap is horrible as there are no roads and they just drive wherever they want over mountains and rocky roads. I met a girl who told me to take a pillow or a wad of clothing because her ass hurt for 3 days when she got there. I'm up for the adventure and I leave tomorrow morning at 7:30AM for a PROMPT arrival in Siem Reap at 8:00PM!

I ran into Chrischan and his friends and had lunch with them at a food stall near Khao San Road. I then needed to take a water taxi down to the last stop, the same stop as The Peninsula and The Oriental Hotels to go to STA Travel so they could issue my new ticket home for April 17th. Good thing I did this today as STA, like most things in Thailand are CLOSED all of next week for Thai New Year.

On the water taxi, I ran into Nico and Janis on their way to Chinatown. It still amazes me that I run into the same people over and over again whether in the same city or different parts of the country.

From STA, I made my way back to Shanti via water taxi so I could book my bus for the morning with Rochelle. I walked through my market and it was good to see things haven't changed much since my last stay here. My market is just how I left it.

Back at Shanti, Rochelle and I played with all the possibilities and I decided to scratch the "budget traveller" plan. I booked a flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh for tomorrow morning (7:25A) and a return flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok for next Friday as I'm going to take a boat up the Mekong River to get from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.

I had dinner with Nico, Janis, and Ed, a Thai guy they met and have been traveling with for part of their stay. Dinner was awesome curry at Shanti and then we went to Khao San Road. They wanted to do some last minute shopping before their flight home and I needed to get some passport photos for my Camboida visa, film, and another bag to fill up and leave at Shanti while I'm gone as I need very little for Cambodia.

I said goodbye to Nico and Janis and was back at Shanti by 11:30P. I packed my things, put another bag in storage and went to bed.

My alarn was set for 4:40AM so I could be ready for my taxi which was coming at 5:00AM.

Day 54 - Thursday, April 7 - the journey to Cambodia begins

I woke with a brainstorm.

Screw the flight.

I had a new plan.

I checked out of Palita and caught a noon boat from Thong Sala Pier to Surat Thani (the mainland) with a quick stop at Samui. The more I read about it and the more I hear people talk about Samui, I think I made an excellent decision to scrath it from my itinerary. I arrived in Surat Thani at 4:15PM and waited at the pier until 6:00PM at which time the bus to Bangkok was scheduled to leave. Of course it left at 6:00PM, THAI TIME, a little late. I tried to book a train, but it was sold out. I think with the Thai New Year rapidly approaching, everyone is scrambling to get to their party scene in time. My time on the boat was spent with a few Germans (Chrischan, Serena and Kayla), most of the time sitting on the bow of the boat soaking in the last of the Gulf of Thailand rays. Once at the Pier, Chrischan left us as he was on a different bus to Bangkok and we met Nico and Janis, some more Germans. The 5 of us got prime real estate on the bus and chatted most of the way until it was time to "sleep".

Listen to this deal: If I did the flight thing, I would have to spend 700 baht for my room tonight at Palita, 100 baht for the boat to Samui in the morning, 50 baht for a taxi to the airport, and 3500 baht for the flight to Bangkok.

This way, the whole trip which included the boat to Surat Thani, the overnight bus remember, this also saves a bungalow / hotel expense for the night as well as transports you) was 500 baht. I'm getting very good at being a "budget traveler".

The bus arrived in Bangkok at 4:15AM and I quickly rounded up anyone who needed a place to stay and we (4 of us - me, 2 of the German guys as the girls already had a place booked, and one Italian guy living in Germany) took a cab (not a tuk tuk) to Shanti. I wasn't so sure I needed my "fancy" room with air con being that I was trying to book a bus or plane to Cambodia in a few hours so I took one of the 3 beds in Nico and Janis's (the 2 Germans) room with fan which was 300 baht for the night (100 baht a person).

It was very sad to be off the islands but something very comforting to be back at Shanti.

I'm still deciding on where to stay when I come back to Bangkok next week. I think I may scrath the idea of staying in a nice hotel and just come back here. After all, it's where I started the journey and think it's where I need to end. The only thing a nice hotel will provide is probably a pool and if I get that hot, I can jump into the dirty river with the kids who use it to bathe.

I twisted and turned in my stickiness and eventually fell asleep knowing that my internal alarm clock will wake me up way before any travel "agency" would open. I'm hoping Rochelle, the young girl who runs Shanti's travel center, decides to open at a decent hour as sometimes she decides to sleep in and open at her leisure.

Day 53 - Wednesday, April 6 - Ko Pha Ngan

I had a pretty good night sleep and woke at 8AM - after all, I'm bound to go down for a nap a few times today so 5 hours was plenty to get me started. I don't remember what anyone even looked like from last night and no strangers came up to me telling me it was a SMINT night so I think I'm ok.

I took a walk on the beach - figured 2 days of exercise in a row wouldn't kill me but this time, unlike yesterday, I walked on the beach (a flat surface) and didn't intentionally try to inflict pain on myself. I actually felt pretty good under the circumstances. I'm also pretty sure that my liver was still tryng to process some of the libations of just a few hours ago.

I checked my e-mail and Logan informed me he was not meeting me on Ko Tao, rather heading north to Kanchanaburi which is where I had my romp with the tigers and saw the Bridge over River Kwai.

Therefore, I decided to stay on Ko Pha Ngan for yet another day, right here at Palita Lodge.

The morning was spent doing a lot of nothing - just loads of R&R - occasionally waking up to find I had taken an unintentional nap and then, at one point, something jolted my brain into thinking I should do something spontaneous and nothing I've planned to date. I went to one of the many used bookstores of Had Rin and bought a Lonely Planet for Cambodia. Maybe I'll catch a plane to Bangkok tomorrow and then to Siem Reap, and see Angkor Wat before leaving Southeast Asia. I sat in the hammock and read all about my new plan.

At 3PM, I took a songtheaw (remember, those are the pick-up trucks outfitted with the 2 benches in the back that act as a taxi) over the treacherous roads towards Thong Sala to Wat Pho. Also remember that Wat is "temple" in Thai but I wasn't going to see another Thai temple but rather to check out the Herbal Sauna they have on the grounds. This time, unlike Chiang Mai, it wasn't an individual room but one that maybe 7 or 8 people could fit in at one time as they pumped steam infused with a blend of white tumeric, kaffir lime, lemongrass, tamarind leaf, sugar cane tumeric, and salt to a temperature upwards of A LOT of degrees fahrenheit. After 10 minutes, I came out, doused myself with water from the giant urn that sits outside, cooled down a bit and did it all over again about 3 or 4 times. When I was all done, I smelled good enough to eat.

When almost all the fluids of my body had been sweated out, I then opted for an OIL massage (remember again, I hate Thai Massages). It was pretty good and at times had Thai elements to it, but I managed to survive and felt great afterward.

I found some guy in a pick-up truck heading in the direction of Had Rin and hopped in the back and successfully made it back to Palita without and bruises, broken bones, or whiplash. The road from Thong Sala to Had Rin is one of the worst on the island and certainly rivals the one from Thong Sala to Ao Nong Thai Pan Yai last week.

Back on my porch, I entertained the idea of Cambodia again but came to no decision. If I'm going to go ahead with this plan, I think I need to make a decision by tomorrow. I would take a boat over to Ko Samui on Friday morning and catch a plane to Bangkok immediately. I would spend a night in Bangkok and take a plane early Saturday AM to Cambodia and start my tour of Angkor. I can't imagine, even though it's not UNcommon for people to spend 5 or 6 days looking at temples, that I would need more than the rest of Saturday and 2 full days starting at sunrise on Sunday and going full force until sunset on Monday to see all I want to. After all, this is the same person who saw The Sistine Chapel in 36 seconds. At that point, I can bolt down to Phnom Penn for a few days and head back to Bangkok on Friday or Saturday morning to catch my plane to LA on Sunday at 11:55PM. Now that I've explained an itinerary that will change 36 times before I make any decisions, it's time to either act on it or come up with a new plan for the remaining 9 or 10 days before I need to be back in Bangkok.

I strolled around town for a bit, stopped for a little dinner at some chicken joint as I was Thai Fooded out and came back to Palita where I joined some other Palitians for the end of Ocean's 12. After the movie ended, we reconvened on the beach for a night swim and chat and I headed for bed near midnight.

Day 52 - Tuesday, April 5 - Ko Pha Ngan

I woke up very early as many people were just getting home from their night of debauchery, probably at "the Cactus Bar" just down the beach from Palita.

I re-evaluated my plans. I had a great day on Had Rin and not sure what I'm rushing out of here for. If I am meeting Logan on Ko Tao, it's not until tomorrow at the earliest. I decided to stay on Had Rid on Ko Pha Ngan for another day.

I also checked my journal and realized that almost all I've done lately is sit on my ass and eat (aside from our little rock climbing the other day) so I decided to get some exercise out of the way. Boy, was that a DUMB idea.

I left Palita at 8:30AM to hike over to Had Tien, a neighboring beach. The hike is 5km and it's not easy. There were times I wanted to just lay down and die and hope someone came my way to send my body home before some of the local wild life came and got the best of me. This hike was a KILLER, climbing a steep steep mountain range (i.e. the Rockies) to finally get to the next beach over which was an ugly mess. Along the way, I hiked through beautiful lush green jungle occassionally coming to areas that were dried, brown, and ugly, always following the "green dot trail" to safely get me to my destination. I was supposed to see all sorts of Ko Pha Ngan wildlife but all I saw were 36 different species of butterflies and a few monkeys, which don't excite me anymore.

By the time I got to Had Tien, I was sweat SOAKED! I quickly found a bunglaow operation and bought 2 bottles of water - one to drink and one to pour over my head. I found the beach and decided on a water taxi back to Had Rin as there was no way in gods green earth that I was heading back over that trail. It took me 100 GRUELING minutes to get there and it was plenty of exercise for one day.

While I was waiting for the water taxi to take me back to Had Rin, I met 2 girls and a guy from The Czech Republic and we had a nice time chatting for quite a while as the water taxi departs when the water taxi driver decides he's in the mood to.

Well, it was back over the same rough seas as yesterday, this time, not in a fishing boat, but a long-tail boat packed with 24 people and lots of luggage - something the US Coast Guard would NOT approve of! Midway through the trip it started to rain. I now wasn't only soaked with sweat covered up with Thai drinking water, but now I had Thai rain water on top of it all.

The water taxi dropped me off at Had Rin Nai, I walked very quickly over to Nok, jumped in the ocean, then showered, did a quick washing of my clothes and sat on the porch for a while observing the goings on. I can sit on my porch for 29 hours a day, as I forgot to mention the eye candy that is visible upon looking in every direction from my porch. I wont get into details as there are grown ups, children, and religious folk who are reading this blog and I don't feel it would be responsible reporting to all of a sudden turn this into a porn site.

After a few swims, a few sits on the porch, and my eyes had enough exercise, I walked around the streets a bit, got a pretty great foot massage and caught up on some e-mails and blogs. While I was internetting, the skies opened up and it rained like I haven't seen in years. I waited out the rain, headed back to Palita and had dinner there. Wherever you go on Had Rin, every bar, bunglaow restaurant, etc. is playing a movie. There is usually a chalboard out front giving a time table of what they are playing that day usually starting at Noon and going all the way til 7PM or 9PM. The establishments vary, with some having big screen TV's, to one place that has a big screen along with 10 smnaller ones positioned around the restaurant, and even one that has one TV that looks like it's no more than 13".

As I sat down for dinner, they were playing "Bridget Jones" - the second one. I only saw the last 40 minutes or so and it looked AWFUL! After dinner, I sat on the porch and fell asleep in the hammock.

At midnight, I woke up and heard some thumping bass from down the beach at "Cactus Bar" so I took a walk to see what was going on. I think everyone on the entire island was partying and dancing at the bar and on the beach so I found a vacant spot on a bamboo mat on the beach with a bunch of people and made some friends pretty quickly. I have no idea as to who they were and I don't remember their names as I got back to Palita after 3AM after many beers, a few Thai Whiskey drinks and who knows what else. I now understand why people were stumbling home as the sun was rising this morning being that the bar was still packed when I left at 3AM.

I went to bed hoping I had shut off my internal alarm clock that was set last night to see the sunrise.

Day 51 - Monday, April 4 - Ko Pha Ngan

Woke up and had a new plan for the day. I decided to proceed with my Ko Tao plans but not before checking out of Pingjum and spending the day and night down at Had Rin.

Had Rin is on the southeast point of the island and is divided into 2 sections, Had Rin Nok (Sunrise Beach) or the lively party beach, and Had Rin Nai (Sunset Beach) or the quieter ugly beach. The 2 beaches sandwich a very busy peninsula filled with stores, stalls, restaurants, bars, internet shops, and, of course, a 7-11. Had Rin Nok is where the world famous "Full Moon Parties" take place but I won't be here for the full moon so I'll be just fine.

Checked out, paid my bill, and waited for the "water taxi" to pick me up. The ride down the eastern side of the island was terible. The seas were ridiculously rough and there were numerous times I thought we were going to capsize. Two girls got sick, one over the side of the boat, and the other just sitting with her head in her palms throwing up at her feet. Needless to say, a great time was had by all.

Got down to Had Rin at 10:30A, and got a great room at Palita Lodge on Had Rin Nok, Julie Jones' recommendation. I have an amazing bungalow right on the beach - it's clearly the best location of all the bungalows I've had so far. I think I scored one of the best at Palita, if not the whole beach. I sacraficed air con and it was a great call as there is a constant fierce wind that blows across the beach all day and night. I'm paying slightly (or a lot) more than I normally like to but it's under $20 at a lovely price of 700 baht. 400 baht has been the price I like to stay around but as they say, location, location, location!

The surf here is pretty great and everyone was in the ocean frolicking about in what are certainly the biggest waves I've seen in Thailand to date. I swam for a bit and then walked around the town a bit. I like Had Rin - it's not as crazy as everyone made it out to be. It's nice to have a real town for a change over the quiet beaches with nothing but some local life around.

I hung on the beach and had a few beers with a bunch of English guys and girls and just enjoyed a new beach and a new scene. We all walked over to Sunset Beach (Had Rin Nai) to see a lame sunset and then headed back to our beach for a few beers. It was an early night, we said goodbye as they are leaving in the AM for Bangkok and back home to London. This wasn't a sad goodbye as I don't even remember their names 24 hours later.

PHOTOS # 5 - MORE ISLAND / BEACH LIVING

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=99931112597520833/l=45357304/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Day 50 - Sunday, April 3 - Ko Pha Ngan

Woke and hung on the beach for a little bit and read another page of my book. At this rate, I should be finished in time for my trip to Africa next July.

Everyone woke up, packed their bags, and had breakfast at Pingjun while I enjoyed a morning swim.

I took the truck ride with Marlow, Les, and Logan to Thong Sala, we walked around a bit and had some fried chicken from a street vendor. There's nothing better these days than a great piece of street fried chicken. We parted ways again, this time knowing I wouldn't see Les and Marlow until I visited them in Canada, and Logan and I joked about meeting in Ko Tao after he saw them off in Bangkok.

I took the truck back to Pingjun and hung out on the beach reading my Lonely Planet in case I do end up on Ko Tao come Tuesday or Wednesday. This Ko Tao talk all came up again after seeing a postcard from Ko Tao with the most beautiful white sand beaches and pristine blue water. It might be worth a simple and inexpensive boat ride to check it out. I thought I had written Ko Tao off but now, as usual, plans are changing and I may rethink it.

Back at Pingjun, I swam, and relaxed and did pretty much a lot of nothing. Had a late lunch at 4PM, and just chilled out the rest of the early evening before checking out a few bars (Game Bar and Dolphin) before heading to bed. Was sound asleep by 10:30.

Day 49 - Saturday, April 2 - Ko Pha Ngan

head·land ( P ) Pronunciation Key (hdlnd, -lnd)n.
A point of land, usually high and with a sheer drop, extending out into a body of water; a promontory.

After a great sleep in my fan only room, I woke up to see the sun rise over the mountains that line the bay. It was quite beautiful and I took a great walk on the beach, read a little and waited for the rest of the world to wake up.

We all had breakfast at about 9:30A and did pretty much nothing aside from relax, swim, hang out and veg until it was time for lunch at 1:00PM. We ate at the bungalow which I know knew was called PINGJUN RESORT, and let me use the term "resort" very loosely as the description in Lonely Planet is "a popular oldie, with cute wooden shacks in a grassy area".

After lunch, we decided to trek over to the other beach, Ao Thong Nai Pon Noi, so they could at least say they saw more than one beach before they left the island. There is a little path over the mountain that you can hike from one beach to the other. We swam, had a drink, and headed back to our beach. Marlow and Les took the way we came and Logan and I went the way of the water climbing over the headlands. This meant climbing on and over huge rocks and boulders sometimes having to jump top the nearest point that was certainly not an easy task. It was much harder than we anticipated but we finally made it, jumped in the water, swam, and came out to spend some time on the hammocks.

I showered to de-salt myself and spent some time at the internet cafe before it was time for dinner.

We went to some restaurant, obviously on the beach, and I had a great glass noodle salad with pork. After dinner we went next door to Dolphin, a awesomely cool bar in a jungle setting with various different raised platforms with cushions, pillows, etc for lounging and great music piped through the whole place. Les and Marlow left after about an hour and Logan and I sat and drank and talked about our next traveling experience - AFRICA - JULY 2006!

We got back to PINGJUN at about 1:00AM, sat on the hammocks, talking, listening to some music until 2:30AM at which time I had to call it a night.

Day 48 - Friday, April 1 - Ko Pha Ngan

Although no roosters to wake me up, I did a great job at waking up in time to see the sun rise. I walked around a bit, found a bungalow operation I would rather stay in if I were to stay at Mae Had Bay, and tried to figure out the lay of the land. The actual beach (the sand part) here at Royal Orchid sucks but just a 2 minute walk away, there's a good beach. Ko Ma, Horse Island, sits right in front of the little cove that Royal Orchid it situated on and is reachable via sandbar in about 2 - 3 minutes. Horse Island is blocking my view of the vast Gulf. As you read this blog, put your fist about 5" in front of your face and that's the same obstruction that Horse Island gives to the open water I am dying to look out and see.

After careful consideration, I realized that Royal Orchid and Mae Hat Bay weren't long for me. I checked out, paid my 200 baht and rented a bike, leaving my passport and pack as collateral. I drove to Had Yao, a beach on the northeast side of the island about 5km away from this shithole they call Mae Had Bay. I looked at some other hotels / bungalows and contemplated spending 1000 - 1500 baht a night on a nice air con room on the beach. I looked at Tantawan Bungalows where my friend Dylan stayed in December and it's real nice and situated on a hillside overlooking the blue water. However, I'm not in the market to climb the stairs of Kilamanjaro every time I want to get to the place and then have to cimb Mt. Fuji to get to my room.

I left Hat Yao and tried to find Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi and Ao Thong Nai Yai, 2 beaches on the northeast side of the island that were also recommended to me. This island is pretty big and after getting lost a few times, I realized I had to drive all the way south to Thong Sala, the main town where the pier is, and then head north on a different road as there was no way to get from the northwest side of the island to the northeast side without going all the way south first. Oh well, it was a nice ride and I was enjoying learning the island and seeing the sites.

The roads on the island are all pretty good and paved, WINDY AND NARROW AT TIMES, but there is a stretch of about 7 KM on the way to Ao Thong Nai Pon that isn't paved and along with windy and hilly, somewhat treacherous. I managed to get there in one piece and found what I thought was one of the prettiest beaches I found to date. I saw a few bunglaows I liked on Noi but wanted to check out Yai before making a decision. Drove just 1KM further and came across the little town of Ao Thong Nai Pon Yai and turned onto a little dirt road to get to the beach. I parked the bike and before I even got off the bike, I saw MARLOW walking up from the beach. What a weird coincidence! How the hell did I happen to end up pulling into the exact bungalow operation that they were staying at not even knowing they were on this beach? The world keeps getting smaller. Within minutes, out came Logan and Les and we were reunited - one big happy family again. We chatted for a little bit on the beautiful beach, and I definitely knew this was the beach to stay at. I then had to figure out how to get the bike back to Royal Orchid, get my bag, and get back to this place being it was already 4:00PM. There are no real taxi's on this island, rather a few scheduled runs to Thong Sala each day from the bungalow. I found a guy in a truck at the bungalow who was heading to the pier in Thong Sala and said he would then come get me at Royal Orchid and bring me back. I got on the bike, drove all the way back to Royal Orchid, returned the bike, said goodbye to that god forsaken place and the truck came to get me to bring me back for the low low price of 600 baht. At this point, the price didn't matter as I was getting out of a place I didn't like, heading to a beautiful beach, and had the Esau's to hang out with for another day before they headed to Bangkok where Marlow and Les were catching their plane back to Canada on Tuesday and Logan continued his travels.

Soooooooooo, back on the eastern north/south road to Thong Sala where I could cross over to the west side of the island and head north to Mae Had Bay to get my stuff. Like clockwork, the guy showed up just a few minutes after I did and took me back to Ao Thong Nai Pon Yai. Logan and I got a room with 2 beds so Les and Marlow could spend a night alone without child in tow. We caught up, talked about the whole week we were apart, and realized the weird coincidence that I found them.

We had a drink on the porch, I hung my hammock, and think I have found a place I can stay put for a few days. It was a whole day of looking for a place but it was well worth it. This beach is absolutely beautiful.

I showered to rid myself of the the sweat, dirt, and grime that had built up on my body and clothing from the ride and we headed down the beach to dinner. After dinner we hung out on the porch for a bit, and they told me that if I didn't mind, they would not go to Bangkok tomorrow and spend another day with me here. I certainly didn't mind and was glad to be back with my adopted family.

Everyone went to bed and I fell asleep on my hammock for a few hours before I transferred myself into my bed and called it a night.

Day 47 - Thursday, March 31 - Rei Ley to Ko Pha Ngan

I woke up, as you mow know, and decided to leave Rei Ley as I was anxious to get to Ko Pha Ngan and I didn't really need to stay any longer. It truly is a great place but for some reason, was ready to go. Maybe it was the 700 price tag per night. Maybe it was me dealing with the reality that come tomorrow, April arrives, and only 17 days remain on my journey. Whatever the reason, I packed and found a long tail boat that was about to leave with just 2 persons on board. I made it 3 and the driver was happy to see me. On the boat, I met and chatted with Jeremy and Archie from San Francisco.

When I landed back at Krabi Town at 10:35AM, I discovered there was a bus leaving for Surat Thani at 11:00AM. GREAT TIMING as this is the jumping off point to the islands in the Gulf. I ran to one of the shops I was at yesterday, bought the few trinkets I didn't want to lug to Rei Ley, and boarded the bus for Surat Thani. This drive, across the peninsula, would mark the last time I would see the Andaman Sea / Indian Ocean. A feeling of sadness came over me being that I had such success here in finding Paradise and Eden.

We got to Surat Thani and had an hour to kill before the next bus would take us to the Ferry at Donsak, about 45 minutes away where the boats to Ko Pha Ngan were docked. For some reason, I thought the boat left from Sura Thani but that may be the morning ferry and I had missed that one. I was starting to feel like a real backpacker who spend most of their time on busses, trains, ferries, etc and never really stopping to see the place they actually just came from.

So with this hour, what do you think I stumbled across? You guessed it, a UPS office. I am starting to hemmorage money but the goal is to be as light as possible now that I may be moving faster than the first part of the trip.

I packed a small box, this time with the souvenirs I had just purchaed in Krabi, my sneakers which haven't seen my feet since the trek in Chiang Mai, and 26 rolls of film that was starting to weigh me down. Did you read that last sentence? TWENTY SIX rolls of film, and that is in addition to the 6 rolls that are in storage in Bangkok and I still have almost 3 weeks left. I am starting the "please help Marc develop his film fund" for anyone who wants to donate.

Boarded the bus to Donsak, this time a big coach bus and finally got to the pier at 3:55PM, only to find out that the 4:00PM ferry was rescheduled to 5:00PM. I chatted it up with a few different travelers trying to decide who my next Katie and Dave, or Logan and his parents would be. Found a few possible candidates but didn't make a move yet to invite myself into their group.

On the ferry, I quickly spotted the FOOT MASSAGE area and plopped down in one. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! What a great way to pass some of the time on a boat ride across the Gulf of Thailand. The massage was pretty good and when finished, I went outside to see the scenery as it was passing by.

On the boat, I went back and forth conversing with 2 German guys and a group of 3 English (a guy and 2 girls), all of which I had to convince that ALL Americans aren't Bush loving assholes. Sometimes, that's a hard task and to be quite honest, I want the days back where I could say I was proud to be an American and have people envy that I was from the greatest nation on earth......gone are those days.

The boat stopped briefly at Ko Samui and then we were off to Ko Pha Ngan. The sunset was pretty great at sea, the sky pitch black with the stars as bright as can be and 45 minutes later, we pulled into Ko Pha Ngan. I got in a truck (songthaew) and headed to Royal Orchid, the bungalow operation that my friend Alex and Cass recommended. When he read about Miami being my paradise, he told me that they had found their paradise at Royal Orchid. The room is 200 baht, no air con and I'm going to give it a try for a day or 2. I haven't seen this place in daylight yet so I'll check it out tomorrow and see if I like the beach, the people, etc.

I went to Sunshine Restaurant, just up the road from Royal Orchid, and had a vegetable pizza, my first pizza in Thailand. It was pretty damn good and better than some I've had in LA.

This brings me current. I am on my way back to Royal Orchid and calling it a night, HOWEVER, just before I started this blog entry, I checked my e-mail and got one from Logan - they are in Ko Pha Ngan also. They have no idea I'm here until he checks his e-mail being that I replied and told him the coincidence. Maybe I'll be moving away from Royal Orchid sooner than I had planned......we'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

Day 46 - Wednesday, March 30 - Krabi to Reiley Beach

Checked out of the hotel and walked around town a bit before heading to the pier to find a boat to Reilay Beach. There are many many spellings for Rei Lay Beach so I'm going to use them all. There's no scheduled boat service to Rei Ley so one needs to find a long tail boat and hope the driver can fill the boat quickly. They like to leave once they have 8-10 people passengers on board. I got to the pier and I was #3. We waited for #4-8 but we couldn't find any others. Mr. Long Tail Boat Driver finally agreed to take us 3 for the normal 70 baht per person fare after 2 ladies bailed when he tried to raise the price and took the bus instead. The ladies were dumb as the bus goes to Ao Nang first and then you have to hire a long tail boat from there, and the driver was dumb for losing out on another 140 baht. I have no idea why people would opt for the bus option, but, as we know, some people are just born stupid.

The boat ride was 40 minutes to Rei Lay Beach East. I've been told so many contradictions with regard to Rei Ley Beach so I walked around and made my own choice. Matt from Oklahoma said West was better and Nadine and Tuci said East.

They are both corect.

The beach on West is far superior as it HAS a beach. There is no beach on East, just mangroves that turn into a muddy flatbed at low tide but the walk to West is all of 5 minutes.......maybe 10 if you stop to take some photos.

The accommodations at West were much more expensive and I didn't want to jump off my "budget bandwagon". I found the "Diamond Cave Bungalows and Resort" on Rei Ley Beach East and got a room for 700 baht - the most expensive place to date on my Thailand adventure. The scenery is beautiful, slightly up a hill with huge limestone cliffs in the backround, a beautiful crystal clear blue pool, and a good room with air con so I was happy. Well, I've been happy for the past 46 days so that was nothing new.

I got into my bathing suit, took the pool for a test ride and sat out for about 45 minutes. Put on some clothes and walked around a bit. The 3rd beach in this little area is called Ton Sai and reachable in one of 3 ways - by long tail boat (3 minutes around a point that juts out in the ocean), you can walk around the point in low tide only, or you can climb a mountain that was certainly steeper than anything I climbed on my trek. So you can see, I opted for the climb not knowing. It was a great walk though, occassionally passing numerous rock climbers (this is a playground for rockclimbers from across the world) climbing the outrageous limestone cliffs. It certainly looked pretty awesome. I found Ton Sai Beach and decided that this would probably be the best beach to stay on but I'm not moving. I figure I'm only going to be here for a few days and my place is fine. These bungalows on Ton Sai are a back to the basic huts with fan only and much less "resorty". It seems to be more of a backpacker crowd too, which, according to Dave (of Dave and Katie fame), I AM NOT. He says even though I travel with a backpack, I am too old to be a backpacker. I had lunch (fried rice with Indian curry sauce and chicken), a lemon shake (shakes here are dairy free- usually just the raw fruit in a blender with ice) and enjoyed the scenery. It's really quite striking.

I decided to take a long tail boat back as I was not making that climb over Everest again. I got back to Rei Ley West, walked around a bit, and walked back to East to take care of some business, get my sarong (doubles for a towel) and headed back to West for a swim and sunset. On the way, a local told me to go to Hat Tham Phra, the 4th and final beach reachable on foot on the Laem Phra Nang peninsula. He said it was a quieter beach and a better sunset. Wow, just a reminder, when in Thailand, listen to the locals. I walked to the southern end of Rei Ley East and over to Hat Tham Phra, most of the way walking along side a huge cliff and limestone formations that housed Tham Phra Cave. On the way, I passed Ravadee, a 26 acre 5-star resort that looks pretty spectacular. Lonely Planet says rooms (villas)there can climb as high as 150,000 baht per night.

The sunset was AWESOME and I have one of the best pictures taken to date to prove it. After the sun went down, I walked back over to Diamond Cave and jumped in the pool. Needless to say, I was a sweaty pig and it felt great. I wasn't hungry for dinner so I just got a few skewers from a lady on the beach and called it dinner. Back at my room, I showered, hung out, and went to "The Rock Bar" for a Chang. The bar is stuffed under some more huge-ass limestone cliffs and has a pretty great atmosphere. One Chang later and I was ready for bed.

Day 45 - Tuesday, March 29 - Travel to Krabi

Just as I suspected, 6:10A came pretty quickly and I packed my final things and went to catch my truck ride to the ferry. The front desk area was empty. There wasn't anyone to be found but I knew they would wake up soon, especially because they knew they had someone checking out this morning and had to settle their bill.

Then it all made sense. Two trucks pulled up and all the Miami help (they are all family in one relation or another) filed out of the car. They had all left Miami way before we had and went to higher ground themselves and were just getting back.

I settled my bill, said goodbye to Q and Penn (yes, we are all on a first name basis now) and said my final goodbyes to the kitchen staff and all the help who were scurrying about prepping the kitchen and common areas for another beautiful day in this tiny little place, that as you know, I call paradise.

I got in the truck, drove the famous Lanta roads one last time, arrived at the Ferry, and quickly boarded and found prime real estate so I could lay down on the deck and sleep some of the way. Just two hours later I arrived at the Krabi Pier and after talking to a couple last night at Sunshine, decided to get a hotel room in Krabi Town for the night and go to Rei Ley Beach in the morning. I found a nice clean room at Ban Chaofa with Air Con and a hot shower, threw my bags down, and looked around to see what Krabi Town had to offer.

I was quickly back in city mode, fighting off the tuk-tuks and the numerous people calling from their shops, "come in, look is free". At one street corner along the river, I was approached by a man asking me if I wanted to take a boat ride. Sure, why not.

We crossed the street and I got in his long tail boat and rode through miles of mangroves seeing huge iguanas, some monkeys, and some beautiful scenery. We stopped at a small cave, I climbed up a boat load of stairs, looked around and got back in the boat. I got back to the starting point, and paid him his 300 baht, and ventured on.

I found a great spot for lunch. I pointed at the dish in the glass case as there wasn't a person in sight who could tell me what the dish was, and I inhaled the spiciest curry pork that I've had to date. It was a real local meal, and with a bottle of water, cost 25 baht. Gotta love the city life and the city food. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to Bangkok at the end of my trip so I can have some more of that great street food.

Walked around some more, bought some souvenirs because as you know, I've just shipped home a box of things I didn't want to carry anymore and I have room for new crap in my pack.

Krabi Town is actually a pretty interesting city. I had a good time just walking around and taking in all the sites. Of course, as much as the city entetrtained me, I also entertained them. They love stopping and talking to the new farang in town. It's almost as if I'm a circus freak they let out for the day.

I got back to my hotel, showered, and turned on the TV. I've only had TV in one other place I think and it was weird to turn it on and see "Ally McBeal." Then "The Simpsons" came on and I took a little snooze.

I woke up at 6:30P, threw on some new clothes as the ones I walked around in were drenched in sweat (oh, how I remember the days of walking around Bangkok and Chaing Mai dripping wet all day), and headed out to the "night market" for dinner. The couple I met last night as we were awaiting the Tsunami told me I must have dinner at the night market. This market was all local food, no souvenirs and people wanting to sell me bamboo placemats, watches, etc, and it all looked pretty awesome.

Once again, I pointed as there was no english spoken here and I ate more spicy curry. I think the reason Thai people are so skinny is that the chillies they eat literally burn away any fat cells that accumulate in their body. I have no idea what this stuff is doing to my insides, but it has to be cleaning it out in some way or another. I stopped at a few different stalls, sampled a few dishes, and headed back to the hotel but not before stopping at a cool bar, "The Rasta Hideout" that I scounted on my walk in the afternoon. It was close to my hotel and although not as cool as "The Reggae House" on Lanta, it was a great place to have a Chang before bed.

I wanted to get a good night sleep being that I only got about 3 hours last night awaiting for the Tsunami to arrive in Lanta.

Of to Reilay in the morning.

Day 44 - Monday, March 28 - Ko Lanta

TODAY I SURVIVED A TSUNAMI WARNING!

With no motorbike (I very easily could have gotten it back but decided against it) and nothing planned for the day, I decided to spend the day at Miami enjoying my last day in Paradise.

As I've said numerous times, if I had all the time in the world, I could certainly get even more comfortable than I already am (Natalie comfortable) and stay here for another month but I successfully changed my return date to LA to April 17th and as much as I want to stay, I do want to experience other parts of Thailand.

I swam, tried out my new snorkel, relaxed on the porch, read some of my book, and worked up an appetite for a noodle soup with chicken from Miami's kitchen. Back on my porch, I was soon visited by Katie who informed me that Happy Hour was starting soon and it was going to be a special one for my going away celebration. WAS IT EVER! She had cheese and crackers, fresh watermelon and pineapple, and some little pieces of fried chicken that were purchased in our little town by this nice old lady who can fry a mean chicken. Natalie came to join us with the Row 4/5 cats of Miami and a good time was had by all. We were soon joined by Tome, our new neighbor who is traveling alone after her friend ran out of money and had to go back to London earlier than planned.

Katie, Dave, and I had a farewell dinner at Otto's and talked about meeting in Ko Pha Ngan in the next few weeks. It's time they started to motivate and I'm thinking KPN may be their next stop. Back at Miami, we went for a nightcap at Mong's Bar, hung out with some fellow travellers and I said my goodbyes to my Paradise one last time. As I said when I left Lanta the first time, I'll look back on Miami and the friends I made with great fondness and will certainly never forget one minute of it.

I got to my room, packed and tucked myself in at about 12:40A. It was only 20 minutes later that I heard a knock on my door. I thought I was dreaming so I didn't answer but then the knock came again. It was Katie with some interesting news. "TSUNAMI WARNING", she said. She came in and told me of an 8.2 earthquake in Sumatra that could have similar effects as the December 26th events that rocked this part of the world. I knew there was no way we were going to have a repeat of the last disaster but nonetheless, I got up, got dressed and walked outside where I was met by our row of bungalows being ordered around by Dave, who was in slight crisis mode and the evacuation began. Within 5 minutes, all of Miami was awake and loaded into trucks and we were brought to higher ground. We were at Sunshine Hill, a restaurant that I passed numerous times on my bike rides, and the highest point on Lanta. As we were driving, we realized the entire island of travellers and locals had all packed small bags of essentials and were fleeing as we were. It was surreal, to say the least, and I was exhausted and could only look at my watch every few minutes knowing I was to get up soon for my ferry to Krabi. If Dave wasn't so insistant, I would have stayed right in my bungalow and gone back to bed hoping when I woke up, my floor was dry and I was still among the living.

At 3AM, they made an announcement in Tinglish that the government said it was safe and "no wave coming".

I hopped in the first truck back to Miami, got into bed, and knew 6:10A, the time that was set on my alarm clock, was rapidly approaching.

Day 43 - Sunday, March 27 - Ko Lanta

Could it be that it was time for another lazy day in Lanta? Being that I made a decision to leave tomorrow, and there are no more trips to Sala Dan for me, I think it was the case.

That thought lasted a very short time as I ran into Katie and Dave and they asked me to join them on a ride to Sala Dan to the weekend market. How could I turn down another Thai weekend market. After all, it meant a ride on the gross Lanta roads, a market that would have all the same crap as all the others and a bunch of food stalls that would have rotting meat with flies all over it and an occassional fruit stand that would be selling loads of DORIAN.

Don't know what DORIAN is?

Durian, Durio zibethinus Murr., is one of the best known fruits in tropical Asia. Its natural distribution is peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand, Indonesia and Borneo. The fruit is stalked, pendulous, and round to oblong with large thorns on the skin. The fruit is a capsule that is split into 3 to 5 segments. Each segment contains l to 5 seeds, each of which is embedded in a sweet, aromatic and rich creamy pulp (aril) with a creamy yellow to golden yellow color. It is also known for its strong and pungent odour, which can be offensive and nauseating to some people.

I haven't been able to get past the smell of it yet but before I leave Thailand I'll try it.

Soooooo, off to Saladan I went on the dirty dusty disgusting roads with trucks and cars kicking crap up in our faces and covering our clothes and entire bodies with centimeters thick of dirt and grime. Got to the market and it was exactly what I had expected. We ate some chicken skewers and some pastry type of snack and bought nothing as usual. We went into the heart of Sala Dan, had lunch at Bi Fern (chicken and vegetables in a "sweeten sour" sauce), and I bought a mask and snorkel and a pair of sandals. Now that my pack has so much room, I didn't hesitate to buy some stuff to fill it right back up with. Yes, Marc, you are a moron!

A few hours later, we did the drive all over again (all 23km) and were back at Miami. I showered, washed my clothes, and went into our little town to get a haircut and some film for the big boat ride to Krabi tomorrow. Dave and Katie are trying to talk me out of leaving but sometimes you have to say goodbye to the people you meet and try other spots. It really is a toss up but if I don't motivate and make the move, I wont see everything I want to.

Back at Miami, I returned my motorbike so I didn't get charged an extra day to keep it overnight, I joined the porch for a few gin and tonics and chatted away. Somehow, they got me drunk enough to realize there was no way I was leaving at 7AM to get on a boat to Krabi. So, I guess it's one more day in the sun on Lanta before going to Krabi on Tuesday morning. I will be that boat, I promise! At 9:45, we finally motivated to OTTO's for dinner. I hadn't been before as they discovered it while I was on Lipe. I had an OTTO BURGER. My real first foray with a Thai "HAM BURGER". My otto burger was a patty about 2 inches in diameter, an inch thick, on a bun with a fried egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and lettuce and with a little imagination, I could have sworn I was sitting at JG Mellon's enjoying the burger of my life. After dinner, we made our way back to Miami. It was bed time for me after a little walk on the beach.

Day 42 - Saturday, March 26 - Ko Lanta

Nobody really cares what time I woke up so just assume I did.

First things first. I packed up all the "stuff" I don't want to lug around any longer, including that stoooopid elephant I bought on Phuket, clothes I'm not wearing, some souvenirs, etc. and found the Post Office on the other side of the island. I packed a nice 9kg box and sent it via EMS (whatever that is) home. I'm now traveling 20 pounds lighter and I feel re-born. I can't wait to put that pack on and not feel like I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm now down to a roomy pack and my day pack rather than a stuffed pack, a day pack and a shopping bag of souvenirs and crap that didn't fit into either of the 2 forementioned packs.

Another beautiful morning on Lanta and I then took my usual ride into Sala Dan. The ride is still fun but as gross as ever as the dusty dirty roads are still such. The trucks whiz by and leave a cloud of dirt and kick tiny pebbles in your face and there are periods of time where the visibility is zero. One day, if I stay any longer, I'll find myself driving either onto incoming traffic or off the side of the road. I'm also tired of having to wash every article of clothing when I get back from Sala Dan.

Hence, therefore, ergo.......I realized my time on Lanta must come to an end. I'll break the news to the gang and move on. On Monday morning, I'll board a boat to Krabi and from there end up on Rei Ley Beach and then maybe Ko Poda. After that, maybe Ang Thon National Marine Park for a day and off to the Gulf to Ko Pha Ngan. Of course, these plans will change a few times before they come to fruition.

Back at Miami, I took a swim, sat and played in the sand as if I was 6 years old again, and threw the frisbee with Barry and Nathan for a bit. I took a little snooze and then sat on the porch for a little bit. I'm missing my hammock here at Miami as the porch's have no supports or cross beams to hang it from. I'll definitely make a note of that on my "comment card" along with fixing my toilet so I don't have to reach into the back tank to lift the flap each time I need to flush. Does anyone know where I even get a "how did we do" card at Miami? I'm not sure they really care "how they did".

The sun was starting to drop and when this happens, you know what follows. Katie and Dave's porch became sunset central and today there was an added bonus. Matalie came over with a spread of cheese, crackers, bread, and some slices of mystery meat. We enjoyed our snacks, drank Gin and Tonics and Singha (the new beer of choice for some) and watched as the sun quickly dropped out of sight as it began to light up the Northern Hemisphere.

After it was dark, Dave, Katie and I (is that proper) went to some local little restaurant in "town" (our town, not Sala Dan) for dinner. It was cheap, local, and good!

After dinner, we met Natalie, Barry, Nathan and Aisha at Otto's for a little game of pool before they watched the England / Ireland soccer match. They couldn't find the game on the satellite so they went to Blue Moon and I went home. My bed was screaming my name as another strenuous day in Paradise had taken its toll on me.

Note: Natalie and Nathan are brother and sister from London. Barry is Nathan's childhod friend. Nathan moved to Thailand 7 years ago and met Aisha, a beautiful Thai massage therapist who now works at the massage hut at Miami. Natalie came to visit Nathan 5 months ago and has been here ever since. Barry spends winters in Thailand as he has a landscaping business back in England during the summer.

There you have it, you now know all the gang.

Day 41 - Friday, March 25 - Ko Lanta

Woke to a somewhat cloudy day and realized it was nice to see some puffs in the sky. The Esau's were waiting for their truck to take them to the pier so I hung out with them for a little bit. Once they left, I got on the bike for a ride into Sala Dan. I caught up on all the missing blogs which I'm assuming you've all read by now, uploaded some photos for all to see, and headed back to Miami as the sky turned black, the wind picked up, and everyone fled the town.

Of course, no rain came, it all blew over, and all was fine in Paradise.

Back at Miami, I found Dave and Katie on their porch. I think the tile on their porch is wearing out. We went to a little street vendor for some curry lunch and brought it back to the porch to eat. We sat around enjoying the ocean breeze and I went for a swim.

The rest of the day was pure nothingness. Just lounged about and thought a few times of the next stop.

Happy Hour was the usual but since I stopped drinking this morning, I couldn't partake. That was, of course, until Katie handed me a Gin and tonic. Maybe I'll stop tomorrow.

After Happy Hour broke up, we got ready for our big night at the movies. Paul, a local Thai British guy who "owns" "The Pub", a little hut on the main road that as far as I can tell doesn't serve food or drink and seems to never have any people in there, was having people over to watch "Million Dollar Baby". We (Paul, me, Katie, Dave, Natalie, Barry, Nathan, and Aisha) sat around on cushions, pillows, and low tables watching the movie. WOW, now THAT's not a movie that one needs to watch here in Thailand unless he / she is tired of being in their "happy place" and is in the mood to get knocked down a few rungs. I guess I really had no idea what direction the movie took until it actually took it. The public did a great job at leaving out some details when talking about it.

After the movie, we all headed back to Miami and called it a night.

PHOTO ALBUM #4 - Lanta / Tarutao / Lipe

Here are some photos from the last few weeks. Once again, I'll bitch about how long the upload took, but people have been asking so here they are.

Until yesterday, when I took a count, I didn't realize how many photos I've taken with my other camera. I now have 30 rolls of 35mm to develop when I get home and I know there are some good ones on those rolls.

Enjoy looking as much as I've enjoyed taking!

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=744251111751213507/l=44640566/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Day 40 - Thursday, March 24 - Ko Lanta

As usual, even after going to bed at 2:30A, I was up at 8:30A. I took a bike ride, popped into an internet place, and caught up on some blogging and e-mails. Back at Miami, I met up with the Esau's and we went on a massive bike ride around the part of the island that I didn't have a chance to show them yesterday. We saw elephants, monkeys, and even a few families of 4 riding motor bikes. Those seem to be the best sightings these days.

Drove to Saladin, shopped around a bit, and had lunch.

Back to Miami at 4PM and went for an afternoon swim. We were all covered head to toe in road dust and this time it was the dusty brown kind with a layer of red over it from the red clay roads on the northeast side of the island. If they were casting Willy Wonka for some Oompa Loompa's we all would have gotten cast.

After the swim, I did the unthinkable and actually took a proper shower with soap and all. Wow, did that feel good!

A beer or two later, some Thai snacks that I bought in Trang, and some great conversation made us hungry for some of Cook Kai's great food. Dinner was great, everyone made good choices and I got a big thank you for showing them a great time around Lanta. Back on the Esau porch, we shared one more beer and said our goodbyes. I had a great time traveling with them and hope to run into them again in the future. If not in the next few weeks in Krabi, Ko Pha Ngan, or Bangkok, maybe some day in Canada or the US. They are off to Phi Phi tomorrow and then to Phuket just to see if it's as bad as I told them it was. They are going to hate it.

As I was about to go walk into my bungalow and call it a night, Katie and Dave came to get me to go to the Full Moon Party a little bit north of Miami at Otto's Bar and Restaurant. I thought if you weren't on Ko Pha Ngan then the Full Moon wasn't that significant. Well, I caved and we drove down there to see what was going on. It was a pretty cool beach party with fire dancers, drinking, hanging out, mats all over the place with little bon fires on the sand, and a lot of dreadfully awful techo music blaring from some big ass speakers all over the beach. There were a few people selling some local crafts and a few food vendors selling some corn on the cob, fried chicken, and other delights. When I say it was a "pretty cool beach party", what I meant to say was, "It COULD have been pretty cool if the music was ANYTHING BUT TECHNO".

I lasted about an hour and a half and called it a night. That was way too much for me and I think I'm real glad I never rushed to Ko Pha Ngan to see the huge Full Moon Party that most people down south rush to each month. I crashed hard and was excited that tomorrow was another day on Lanta!

Day 39 - Wednesday, March 23 - Travel to Ko Lanta

Woke at 7AM and brought my bags across the street to Olawan's place. I paid a little extra baht in order to take a private car from Pak Bara to Trang so I could catch the earliest bus from Trang to Lanta. If I didn't pay extra and took the scheduled mini-bus, I wouldn't have been able to leave Pak Bara until 2:30P and the connection in Trang cuts it close sometimes. It was well worth the $5.25 extra.

Olawan took me in the songthaew to a little mini-mart in town where she gave me over to the driver who would take me all the way to Trang. I thanked her, said goodbye to Tam, and was on my way.

Got to Trang at about 10:30A and as I got out of the little black car, I heard someone calling my name. I thought I was hallucinating from the exhaust that was pumping into the car the entire way from Pak Bara to Trang. I looked across the street and there was Logan. They missed the connection in Trang yesterday and had to stay overnight. The bus they were taking to Lanta was about to leave and it was full so I had to wait til 12:30P for the next one. I waved them off, told them to get themselves to Miami and I would see them later.

Two hours later, I was waiting in line on the mini-bus to get on the ferry to Ko Lanta Noi. It felt great to be on my way home. The ferry came pretty quickly and as we crossed over Ko Lanta Noi and as we approached the ferry to Ko Lanta Yai, I was real excited to be back.

As I got out of the mini-bus at Miami, I got a very warm welcome from the staff. Even the lady who I had the argument with a few weeks earlier was happy to see me. I got my bungalow, put my bags down, and ran into the Easau's whos bungalow was right next to mine. Saw Dave and Katie. Saw Natalie. Saw Barry and Nathan and Aisha. Nothing seemed to change. I was home. Dia and Mong were excited to see me as they thought it was going to be a whole year before I came back.

The Esau's and I rented bikes and I took them on a tour of the island. Les rode on the back of Marlow and Logan and I had our own. They had a blast and coudn't thank me enough for bringing them to Lanta. They definitely liked Lipe better and I'm beginning to think the same.

Back at Miami, I chatted with Dave and then joined the Esau's for dinner at Miami. Watched the fire show at 10P, Les and Marlow went to bed, and Logan and I went on a bike ride south. There's nothing better than riding a motorbike, in the dark, 60 or 70 km/h, on the roads of Ko Lanta with the night wind in your face. Heading back to Miami, we decided to continue south and we rode all the way to Sala Din. The town was locked up tight and on the way back to Miami, we stopped to hear a local Thai band at this street side bar. He asked for requests, we said Bob Marley. He played the only song her knows, "Redemption Song" and he did a fine job. After that, he sung "Stairway to Heaven" and after those 2 songs and a Chang each, we moved on. We then found the Reggae House. This is quite possibly the coolest bar I've ever seen. It's basically a giant treehouse with multi-levels and reggae paraphernalia all over the place. It's all made from natural trees and logs and it's pretty great.
We talked with the bartender all about the place, his love for reggae, and how cool his bar was.

It was late, I was exhausted and it was time to get back on the bikes and get to Miami so I could get some sleep. Once again, a great day, even though some of it was spent traveling.

Day 38 - Tuesday, March 22 - travel to Pak Bara / Malaysia border run

Songthaew - the official name of the pick-up trucks that act as taxi's in parts of Thailand. The word Songthaew means two rows which refers to the two wooden benches that run down each side of this colorful wooden-body public transport vehicle.

I've been riding in these vehicles since I got to Thailand.

TODAY I ACTAULLY DROVE A SONGTHAEW. It was my first rite of passage as I continue my quest to become Thai.

Woke at 6:30A and packed my final things. Got the the breakfast area and ordered some corn flakes as the lady who has been making my daily apple shakes was not in yet. The milk for the cereal came in a glass mug beside the cereal. I don't know if the milk had been sitting out all night or it just came right from the cow. Being that I haven't seen a single cow on this island, my guess is that it was milked this morning from one of the many island cats who has recently given birth to what was probably their 14th litter this year. All in all, it was quite tasty!

Soon thereafter, the whole gang joined me for breakfast including Kim and Gail who came to see us off. Kim was sad to see us go as he now had noone to talk to aside from Gail and that isn't one of his favorite pasttimes.

At 9:30, we walked out to the beach, said goodbye to Kim and Gail, and hopped on a long tail boat that took us to the Ferry that was out in the middle of the ocean. Almost 2 hours later, we landed at Pak Bara and we said our goodbyes......for a day. We were going to be reunited tomorrow at Miami.

I found the office where I arranged my Malaysia border run with just before leaving last week for Ko Tarutao. Within minutes, I was whisked in a mini-bus and was on my way to Malaysia. 10 minutes later, I arived at a school and was switched over to a Songthaew. I was standing in the middle of a school "parking lot" and there were classrooms of kids standing in their doorways staring at me. I had no idea what was going on but I knew I was in good hands. From one of the doorways, Orawan appeared. She was the woman who I actually booked this day-trip with. "Welcome back from Tarutao", she said. She waved me over cause her students (apparently, she's also a teacher) wanted to meet me. I walked in her classroom and in unison, they said hello in Thai. I took some photos and we got in the truck and headed to the Malaysia border.

I was in the front seat with her and her 3 year old nephew, Tam, was sitting on one of the benches in the back, sipping a bottle of milk, no seatbelt, and nothing from preventing him from falling out. We drove the entire way to the border with him in the back. Midway there, he fell asleep on one of the benches and could have very easily just rolled out the back. She seemed not to care as this was normal.

Did my border run without any hassles and I'm now good to be in Thailand until April 20. I think this will be my last extension. On the way to the border, I was telling Orawan that I was in need of a new digital camera as mine took a fall in Lipe as I was taking a self portrait using the self timer a few days ago. The camera works but there is a defect in the lens and the photos have a big black smudge on them which don't make Thailand, or me, look as good as it should.

She offered to take me to Hat Yai, a big city about 1.5 hours from where we were. She said I should be able to find a new one there. So, off to Hat Yai we went but she was tired. She asked me if I wanted to drive and although hesitant, I quickly said ok. We stopped at a great park along the way and walked around. I took some photos and Tam and I bonded. I drove the songthaew for about an hour until we got close to the city as I didn't want to drive in a busy Thai city. It was a lot of fun and I may have found my calling if I end up moving here and becoming a Thai citizen. Either that or I can make mobiles and sell them at a night market. I found an electronics "shop" and found a very similar model to the one I had recently bought in LA. The memory cards are the same, the price was ok, and I was back in business.

Back on the road, it was now dark, and the 3 of us sat on the bench seat for the 2 hours back to Pak Bara. We arrived back at her office / house by the pier at 9:30P. I had planned on staying at a "guesthouse" in Pak Bara being that I wasn't going to be able to get to Lanta until tomorrow so as long as she had a room available in hers, it was perfect. She took me upstairs and at the top of the landing there were 2 mattresses on the floor. She opened a door at the top of the stairs and I then realized her guesthouse was actualy her "house" and I was sleeping in the one bedroom that seemed to be her and her husbands room. From what I could tell, she slept in that room with some kids and an aunt and uncle and some more kids slept on the mattresses outside that room.

I was so tired and in need of a shower so badly and for the first time since being in Thailand, I wasn't happy about my accomodations. The shower was downstairs basically in the back of the storefront and the floor of the store, now that it was nighttime, had blankets and kids strewn about watching TV. I told Orawan I was going to take a walk and I found "The Best Guest House" just down the block. Kim had told me to stay at this place but when Orawan said she had her own guesthouse, I figured I would just stay there.

I got back to the store / house / guesthouse and told Orawan I wasn't going to stay there and although she seemed slightly disappointed, she was fine, "made me" sit and eat dinner with her on her front stoop, and told me to be back at 8AM for my ride to Lanta. She was so great this whole day but I had to do what I had to do.

I took my bags down the road, checked into my little bungalow and showered. I was filthy and it felt great. This guesthouse is great if you ever find yourself stranded in Pak Bara for a night. Tomorrow I can finally get back to Lanta.

Day 37 - Monday, March 21 - Ko Lipe

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!

sun·screen ( P ) Pronunciation Key (snskrn)n.
A preparation, often in the form of a cream or lotion, used to protect the skin from the damaging ultraviolet rays of the sun.

n : a cream spread on the skin; contains a chemical (as PABA) to filter out ultraviolet light and so protect from sunburn [syn: sunblock, sun blocker]

DON'T BE STOOOOPID - REMEMBER TO HAVE SOMEONE APPLY SUNSCREEN TO YOUR BACK IF YOU ARE SNORKELING FOR A DAY NOT TO FAR FROM THE EQUATOR!

Today I made use of my hammock and the shade.

I was extremely productive today as I went to the edge of the beach, gathered some small pieces of coral and made 2 mobiles - one for my porch and one for the Easu's. I was real impressed with my arts and crafts project of the day but after 2 of them, I needed a nap. The hammock was the best place for that. I think there may be a sleeping agent in the weave of the cotton. Either that, or I've come down with a pretty severe case of narcolepsy since being here.

My mobile is great and I will take it down and hang it on all my future porch's next to my sarong that seems to be the trademark of "Marc's Bungalow". Marlow and Les were very happy to have their very own one as we've been admiring all the ones on various porch's since we got here. They told me they would take it home and hang on their porch at their cabin. It's amazing how gratifying my day was today and I really hadn't done anything of substance.

Went to the Esau porch for some fresh fruit for lunch. We cut up a pineapple, watermelon, and some bananas we bought in the village. WOW, that pineapple was juicy.

This was by far one of the laziest days I've had to date.

At sunset, we went to the beach to hang out and then to Varin on Pattaya for dinner again. Kim and Gail joined us for dinner and as long as she's at the other end of the table, I'm fine. This time I had fresh King Mackerel and a little green salad - AWESOME! The fish was just grilled on the huge BBQ on the beach and lightly brushed with a curry sauce. WOW, if not already, I can certainly get used to this life. Although the fish was quite expensive at 100 baht, it was worth every $2.63. That was for 1/2 a kilo and I certainly could have done with a 1/4. It was 4 filets and I gave one to Kim and one was left over. I then realized that my kilo to pound conversion was off and I ordered too much.

Back at Andaman, the Esau's and I made a bon fire using wood we had gathered earlier in the day and sat under the almost full moon chatting. The sky was so bright from the moon that it illuminated the entire ocean. While standing in the ocean up to my neck, Les, standing on the shore could see my toes and not even realize I was standing in water. It was wildly amazing.

I got back to my bungalow and packed. Took down my hammock and although I want to stay here forever, I decided to move on. Marlow, Les, and Logan are going to go to Ko Lanta for a few days and I'm going to go to Malaysia for my border run and meet them at Miami on Wednesday. I always secretly planned to pass through Lanta on my way back up North to Krabi.

I slept in my comfy "bed" and dreamt about what life on Eden was going to be like when I left.

Day 36 - Sunday, March 20 - Ko Lipe

Todays entry is going to be short as words can't do justic to what my eyes saw.

Woke up at 6AM and saw an incredible sunset. Who knew that this was just going to be the start of the most amazing day.

I sat in the hammock waiting for the rest of the group to wake up and get ready for our SNORKEL TRIP. The Easu's, me, and Kim and Gail hired a long tail boat to take us to 4 islands to snorkel for the day. I wont get much into details about Kim and Gail. He's a nice guy with little ambition, stocks shelves at a grocery store in Canada and puts all his money away so he can take 3 months a year off and come to Thailand. Gail, his wife, although not legally his wife, is a hairdresser who wasn't my favorite of people. He drinks a lot and after living with her for 17 years, I can see why. She would drive even the best of you to the bottle.

After renting masks, fins, and snorkels, we finally got on our long tail boat and got under way.

We made 3 stops at 3 different reefs and words can't describe the unbelievably awesome intense world that I saw under the water. Fish of all shapes, sizes, living in harmony with the most gorgeous living coral. Nemo's a plenty and even some Dory's too. The visibility was incredible and I just hope some of my underwater photos will do it justice. Logan, who has been living in AUstralia for thepast 9 months and who has snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef said this blew it away.

While we snorkeled, the boat driver did some fishing. At the last stop which we snorkeled off a beach, he got a fire going and cooked the 7 fish and 1 squid he caught. Survivor style, we gathered some banana leaves, used them as plates and we just picked at the 7 whole cooked fish and squid. It's pretty great how tasty they were without the use of even a drop of salt. I don't think fish gets any fresher than that.

We got back to Andaman at 4P - had a Chang to unwind and relax from our stressful day at the office and got rid of Kim and Gail. We walked over to Pattaya for another swim and had dinner at Pooh's.

Back at Andaman, Logan and I went to Karma, had a few Chang, shot the shit and made plans to travel Africa after my next movie. I think that sounds like an excellent plan.

Back on the hammock at 1AM as I was having hammock withdrawals. Fell asleep and woke up at 2AM and tucked myself into my "bed" for a night of slumber.

P.S. The "bed" in my bungalow is a 1.5 - 2 inch thick mattress sitting on a plywood platform. Not really sure why I need a 15" plush top mattress at home that I can't even find sheets to fit. I think I need to re-evaluate what's important to me when I get home. I need to sell the cars, get a tuk tuk, and find some palm fronds to make shelter from. I'll find a way to become Thai if it's the last thing I do!

Day 35 - Saturday, March 19 - Ko Lipe

Woke at 7:30A and needed to do some laundry. Took the 4 articles of clothing I've been wearing for the past 5 days and swished them about on the bathroom floor with some detergent I had left over from Miami and hung them to dry out on the porch. Not really sure why I have a whole pack of clothing when in reality, I've only worn 6 articles of clothing over the past 2 weeks. I'll have to lighten my load again next time I get to a civilized land.

Sat in the hammock. Looked at the water. Swam. Sat in the hammock. Slept. Read a page of my book and slept again. Two Sweedish families who were at Miami showed up and moved into the bungalows beside me. It seemed a bit basic for them but they can always change if they need some more comforts for the kids. I think at this point, I sat in the hammock for a while longer and then went for a swim. There was so much commotion and stress today so I can't remember exactly what order I did all these things. At one point, Logan came over and we chatted on the porch. I then did the unthinkable - I got out of the hammock and let him try it out.

We decided to go to Pattaya for a swim and we did just that. I love being able to do such crazy ridiculous things at a moments notice. We stayed at Pattaya and had dinner at Varin. Logan and I split fresh Marlin and a great coconut curry with Pork. Both were pretty great. On the way back to Andaman, we stopped at Pooh's, a bar / restaurant / internet place that is pretty cool. Not really sure when Winnie the Pooh came to live in Thailand but if anyone is looking, he's right here on Ko Lipe.

Back at my bungalow, I sat in the hammock and did some reflecting. I can't remember the last time I really stopped and let this all sink in. When traveling, whether alone or even with someone, so much of your experinces are heightened by the people you meet along the way. I've been very fortunate to meet some great people and have the opportunity to share my travels with them. Tuci and Nadine were great as were Dave and Katie. The Esau's are an incredible family and seeing them travel together, sharing a bungalow, and adopting me, certainly puts them at the top of the heap. Recently retired, they finally took Logan up on his offer to travel a little with him and they now understand why he has put off getting a job and settling down at this point. Once again, it's two worlds coliding and I feel as if I've known them forever. I would love to take them up on their offer to visit them in Canada and see what it's like to live in the bush hunting and kayaking on the river. Although a little younger and from different worlds, Logan and I talk about traveling, music, and life as he's certainly lived a full one at the young age of 24 (or is he 26?). These past few days have been pretty amazing.

At this point, I did enough reflecting and went to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

Day 34 - Friday, March 18 - Ko Lipe

Had a great night sleep in my bare bones basic bungalow even though the generators were shut down at 3AM and the fan stopped. I woke up a bit sticky but it was a tropical stick so it actually felt good. I knew a little swim would replace the stick with a layer of salt so off to the water I went. The water was completely still and crystal clear. I was able to see everything on the bottom of the ocean floor even at 6 or 7 feet deep and probably even deeper but I turned back. There were fish of all colors and sizes swimming at my feet and I had to pinch myself to see if I was still alive. The water on Ko Lipe blows Lanta away.

Got out, dried off and the stick was now replaced with salt. The only problem with this I've realized is that all the stray dogs like to lick your feet as you walk around - the price you pay for taking a shower in the ocean I guess.

I walked around the island, familiarized myself with the paths that lead from our side at Andaman to the other side of the island called Pattaya Beach. In order to walk from my side to Pattaya, you have to walk through a little local village which was pretty amazing. It's weird to think these people are living in the center of an island surrounded by vacationers and travellers who trample through their world every second of every day to get from one side of the island to another. There are no roads so you just sort of make your way through the dusty dirty paths in front of people's homes and chicken coups. There are chickens, dogs, cats, pigs, and even monkeys on the loose just wandering around. People are bathing on their front porchs, swinging in hammonks suspended from the bottom of their huts (Thais build their houses on stilts and almost all have at least 3-5 feet from the ground to the floor boards of their homes). I suddenly realized that my basic beach bungalow at Andaman for 400 baht was actually a 5 star resort with the finest amenities around. After all, my bungalow had a toilet bowl in lieu of a squat toilet. Granted, there was no flush on the toilet, but the Thai way of flushing a toilet has grown on me and I'm now an expert. In order to "flush" a Thai toilet, you take the small bucket that sits beside the toilet under a little spiget, fill the bucket with water and pour it in the toilet. After 3 pail fulls of water, the toilet is clean and ready to go for the next brave soul.

Pattaya was a bit more populated and there are more restaurants and bars along the beach. It had more of a Lanta feel than the side we are staying on. The water is clearer on our side but the sand at Pattaya was INCREDIBLE. It was literally like walking on flour unlike the course sand on our beach. I wasn't crazy about the sand at Andaman as although classified as sand and not rock, if the pieces of shell and coral were any bigger, it would be painful to walk on.

This island is great. I love not seeing cars, taxi's, and tuk tuks. If you want to get from point A to B, there are 2 choices - foot or a water taxi but foot was easier. It was certainly possible to walk around the entire island in less than an hour.

As I left Pattaya, and walked another path over to our side, I ran into a young Swiss couple I met in Pai. It still amazes me that I'm running into the same people even 4 weeks later in a completely different part of the country. I sat with them, talked about our travels and after an hour, got on my way back to Andaman.

Back at Andaman, I found empty beaches. Where was everyone? It was noon. Was it possible they all melted from the heat? I then realized they were all sitting on their porches, hanging around in their hammocks, and sleeping. It's way too hot to sit on the beach all day long like I'm accustomed to doing on other island vacations.

I hung my own hammock that I bought while waiting for the boat to Tarutao and found a whole new paradise. How have I lived without my own hammock this whole time? Needless to say, I fell asleep for an hour or so and woke up for a swim. I found the Easau's (Marlow, Les, and Logan) at Mountain Resort having lunch and I joined them.

They called this place Paradise but I knew I had my own Paradise back on Lanta so I secretly named this place Eden. After they ate, we went for a swim, and I took them to Pattaya to see the other side of the island. We had lunch at Varin and swam again. On the way back to Andaman we found Banana Tree restaurant. They have a great gimmick here. You sit on mats on the floor at low tables, eat dinner and watch the movie of the night on a small television set up in the bamboo thatched wall. The movie of the night was National Treasure. We made a "plan" to come back later.

On the way back to Andaman we found a soccer (football) game in progress at the school in the village. We hung around, took some photos, and headed back. I think this was the big event of the Friday evening as it seemed that all the locals were here watching and cheering on their respective team.

After a nice sunset on the beach with some rum and coke, we got out of our wet bathing suits and headed to Banana Tree. The food was great. I had chicken with vegetables and cashews served inside a carved out pineapple. They served the fruit of the pineapple on the side. The presentation as well as the food was pretty great. The movie, on the other hand, wasn't as good but certainly entertaining at best.

Back on our side of the island, we went to Jeff's bar for a drink and went to bed. Today was pretty amazing. Can it be that Lipe is even better than Lanta? I'll have to ponder that thought as I sleep off the day.

Day 33 - Thursday, March 17 - Ko Tarutao / Ko Lipe

Woke up pretty early as the sun was up, the waves were crashing, and I had a samll gecko crawling on my head. I took a most excellent outdoor, got dressed, and walked along one of the many trails that criss crossed the park. The inside of the island was thich jungle while the sand around the beach was powdery white. It really was quite spectacular and I was loving every minute of it.

I had breakfast at Café Tarutao as it was still the only choice. I had some fresh fruit that was grown on the island and some eggs that given the absense of chickens on the island, assume they came over to Tarutao on the boat with me.

After breakfast, I found my friend, the English speaking Park Ranger, and planned my morning. For 400 baht, I got on a long tail boat and traveled through miles of mangroves on Tarutao's largest stream, the Khlong Phante Malaka and finally arrived at Tham Jara-Khe (Crocodile Cave), only accessable by boat. When we got to the entrance of the caves, we got out of the boat, walked up some rocky path and back down into a little stream of water and into the caves. Unlike all previous 3 caves I’ve been in during my trip, this was prepared for the tourist. It had ropes, small ambient lights, and signage explaing all the different formations. The first half mile of the walk was on floating bamboo rafts. The stalactites and stalagmites were awesome. After getting to solid ground, the caves went on for another mile or so and then we turned back.

Back on the boat is when I declared this day, “Marc is a Geek Day”. For another 600 baht, I had arranged for the boat to take me on a tour of the parts of the island where they filmed Survivor. We went to both beaches where the teams stayed, the site of all the challenges, and the site where they built Tribal Council. Although, completely gone, and not a sighting of anything Survivor, it was very cool for a Survivor geek like me.

Back at the Ranger Station, I paid my bill for the boat ride and my one night campiong and waited for the boat to Ko Lipe. There was really nothing to stay on Tarutao for, especially traveling solo.

The boat, supposed to leave at noon, finally arrived at 1:15P. I got on, went to the top deck, and watched as we pulled away from one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever been in. The water was still green, the beaches white, and from the sea, it was almost more beautiful than from land.

On the boat, I met Logan, a 24 year old traveling the “world” and his parents, Marlow and Les, who are visiting him for 3 weeks and seeing parts of Malaysia and Thailand. We chatted it up, and after traveling 2 hours into the middle of Ko Tarutao National Marine Park, passing many many many of it’s uninhabited islands, slowly made our way to Ko Lipe. This water surrounding the island was the bluest water and whitest beaches I’ve ever seen. Could this be possible being that I just came from the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. On the boat, we also met Jeff, a Kansas City native, who after owning a bar on Phi Phi for 5 years, gave it up 2 years ago to open another bar of the same name, Karma, on Ko Lipe. He told us a good place to stay and gave us directions to his bar which wasn’t going to be hard to find as it was on the beach next to the bungalow operation he recommended.

The boat landed just off the shore of Lipe and long-tail boats came to meet us and take up to the respected beaches. We got to the “Mountain Resort” but it was full. We walked to “Andaman Resort” and they had rustic beach bungalows that looked sort of what I stayed in at Khlong Jak and I took one for 400 baht. No Air Con, but everone seemed to say it cooled down a bit at night on this side of the island. We put our bags down, and met on the beach for an afternoon swim. We met Gail and Kim, a Canadian couple traveling for 3 months and we all swam, floated, relaxed, and talked.

After the swim, we went to “Mountain Resort” for dinner and some Chang. After dinner, we went to Karma, Jeff’s bar, and enjoyed a fire show, some beer, and conversation. Everyone slowly made their way to their bungalows and Logan and I went for a swim as we heard there was phosphorescence in the water.

http://www.amonline.net.au/explore/faqs/phosphorescence.htm

The only place I've ever heard of or read about phosphorescence was from reading "The Beach". WOW! It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. When in the water and moving your hands, arms, and body about, it looks as if there are tiny white lights almost like fireworks in the water. The link above will give a brief explanation and you can read further if you want.

After an hour of amazement, it was time for bed.

Day 32 - Wednesday, March 16 - Travel to Ko Tarutao

6:30A came very quickly. I got up, showered, packed my last minute things and headed to the front "desk" to wait for my mini-bus. Paid my bill for my entire stay at Miami and said goodbye.

Dave and Carlolina were also on my mini-bus but it was only a matter of time before we stopped at mini-bus central and were hearded off the bus and onto our respective buses as they were heading north to Krabi for their transfer and subsequent trip to Sur Thani and then on to Ko Pha Ngan and I was going further south.

I was finally on my way to! We drove to the pier, then got on a flat bed car ferry to cross from Ko Lanta Yai to Ko Lanta Noi. After driving to the end of Ko Lanta Noi, we got on another ferry boat and crossed over to the mainland to begin our journey. We got to Trang at 10:30A and had a little layover. Walked around a pretty neat local food market and boarded a new mini-bus at 11:00A that arrived at Pak Bara pier at 1:00A. I had 90 minutes to walk around Pak Bara before I was to board the boat to Tarutao. There was nothing really to do so I found some slow-ass internet connection, bought some snacks, and sat on the pier enjoying watching various boats pull in and out.

I arrived at Ko Tarutao, the island, which is the headquarters for Ko Tarutao National Park. I found a perfect spot on the beach under some trees and called it home. I picked this lovely spot because it was the only site that had a tent already set up and that's where the nice Park Ranger put me. Inside the tent, nicely placed on the ground was a thin bamboo mat, a paper thin seeping bag, and a small pillow. Mr. Park Ranger was very hospitable and welcomed all his campers the same way. As I was throwing my pack into the tent, there was a little monkey sitting on the nearby picnic table staring at me. I went over to say hello, but he quickly climbed a tree and just stared at me from above. I walked around the park a little bit and found a great trail that led to the top of a great big cliff with a gazebo and a perfect spot to watch the sun-set. As I was walking around the top of this mountain waiting for the sun to set, I saw some monkeys and a huge lizard. Maybe it was a Monitor Lizard? Was it a Gilla Monster? I don't know what it was but it was over 4 feet from head to tail and it was pretty cool. I don't think they like big white farangs for dinner so it just sat there enjoying it as I pet it's head. It was pretty cool and as I type this, I have all 10 fingers and all toes.

I watched the sun set which wasn't nearly as pretty as the one a few days ago and headed down the mountain and back on the trail before it was too dark to navigate the rough walk back. If it was too dark, there would be no way I would have ever made it and would have had to have found a jungle monkey to cuddle up with for the night.

Went to the Cafe Tarutao which was decent but nothing great but the only option if you want to eat. It's run by the park and it's all they got. It was at this point that I realized, although the island is massive, and I wasn't sure what was happening on other parts, but most other parts are not accessable, that I was one of MAYBE 10 people in this national park and it was going to get very boring very fast.

I went back to my campsite on the beach, made a little lantern out of a coke can, a water bottle, and a candle I had leftover from happy hour and sat listening to the waves crashing on the beach just feet from my tent. Talk about peace and quiet. I felt as if I was the only person left on earth. I wasn't sure where my monkey and lizard were, but I was hoping they were off in the jungle enjoying their own peaceful evening.

I got in the tent at about 9:30 and it was sweltering. It was like a greenhouse effect in there and there were no window flaps to open to let the cool breeze that was coming off the ocean in. I slept in the heat, occasionally waking to the sound of either a wave or an animal sniffing around but all in all had a good, hot, sweaty, sleep.

Day 31 - Tuesday, March 15 - Ko Lanta

I've made a decision - I'm going to motivate!

I'm leaving Koh Lanta after 10 glorious days and moving on. I may be scrapping my plans for Ko Pha Ngan all together. The tentative plan is to travel even further south to the Satun Province. Satun is the Andaman coast's southernmost province and borders the northernmost tip of Malaysia.

"Down there, one can enjoy the most beautiful national parks of Ko Tarutao and Thaleh Ban."

According to Lonely Planet, "Ko Tarutao National Marine Park remains one of the most beautifully isolated and pristine coastal areas in all of Thailand, in part because it requires a bit more effort to get there." They continue to say, "this was probably a good reason it was chosen as location for the 5th 'Survivor' television series, broadcast in 2002."

So, if all goes as planned, I'll be heading there tomorrow for some camping in the National Park, and then to Ko Lipe, one of the other 51 islands that make up the National Park.

Therefore, as if yesterday WASN'T a lazy day, keeping with tradition, today was my Ko Lanta Lazy Day.

I met Mr. and Mrs. Rippey (a.k.a Matt's parents) on the beach and chatted for a while. The Rippey family (and Merislise, Matt's friend) headed down to Bamboo Bay to see where Matt was when he was swept away by the Tsunami. I hung around Miami for a little bit and then rode my bike down to meet them. It's very similar to Khlong Jak where I was with Tuci and Nadine for the first few days on Lanta. Matt reinacted his experience and I made notes for the movie version. We sat at the newly re-built restaurant and had a drink.

I left the Rippey's and headed a little further south into the park at the tip of the island and then went back to Miami.

I sat out, swam, and relaxed. Later in the day, I went into the local village to get some necessities that I wasn't sure they were going to have in Tarutao. After all, it's just a National Park and aside from a little shop for drinks and hopefully some film, not really sure they'll have much of anything.

Back at Miami, I found Dave and Carolina having a mid-afternoon snack, and the other Dave was on the porch getting ready for happy hour. Katie was enjoying an afternoon alone. We all enjoyed our last Miami happy hour together and the 4 of them went to Cook Kai for dinner and I went, as is, in the very same clothes I've been wearing for a week, to the restaurant at Miami. I ordered a whole fish grilled with some vegetables but it wasn't that good. Magnus and Santi, a young Sweedish couple joined me for dinner and we had a nice time. They've been here just as long as me and when I was in my original bungalow, they were my across the path neighbors. We talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Just as I was finished with dinner, Matt came over and sat with us. The conversation swayed from Tsunami to Bush to Samui to Lanta and everything in between. We all watched Mong's fire show and had a few libations. Magnus and Santi left and Matt and I had a few more beers, talked about "Lunch in Milan", the name of the movie we are going to make, and drank Cobra Blood courtesy of Mong. It was quite gross and I don't advise anyone to do the same on their next visit to Thailand.

Dave, Katie, Dave, and Carolina came to Mong's for a farewell drink, we all exchanged information, hugged, kissed, cried, and promised to keep in touch forever and ever.

Called it a night at 2AM, said my goodbyes to Matt, packed, and went to sleep anxiously awaiting the chirping of my alarm clock at 6:30AM so I could be ready for my 7:00AM mini-bus to my next destination.

I'm sad to be leaving Lanta but I know there is another Paradise waiting for me.

BLOG INTERRUPTION

Hello all blog readers. I just posted Monday's blog and don't have time to post yesterday's right now. The power was out on Ko Lanta for some of yesterday and then I was too busy to sit down and write when it came back on.

Here is a quick update:

I left Ko Lanta this morning. It wasn't easy but if I didn't make a move, I may have found myself there for months.

After a few bus rides, and a few ferries that all began at 7AM, I am currently at the Pier at Pak Bara, in the Satun province waiting for my boat to take me to Ko Tarutao National Park. I will be visiting 2 islands of the 51 island park, Ko Tarutao and Ko Lipe. I will be camping on the beach on Ko Tarutao and will stay at a bungalow that was recommended to me by someone I met at Miami. I don't believe there is any internet connection on Ko Tarutao and I'm not sure about Lipe. I also have no idea how long I'll be at this beautiful pristine National Park but my guess is about 5 days. When I'm done on those 2 islands, I have arranged a boat to take me into Malaysia for a day or 2 so I can get a new stamp in my visa as I am too far south and have too much to see to make it back to Bangkok on the 27th for my flight.

So, therefore, the blogs will stop for a few days but have no fear - I am safe, happy, healthy, and having the time of my life and will report back when I'm back on civilized ground.

Day 30 - Monday, March 14 - Ko Lanta

Happy Birthday Brett

1. woke up
2. had breakfast
3. rode into Sala Dan, the big town, for my usual AM ride and bought a new head covering
4. stopped at a road side stand for an excellent chicken skewer
5. arrived back at miami and swam
6. napped on the beach
7. swam
8. read
9. swam
10. re-applied sunscreen
11. sat in the sun
12. swam
13. sat on my porch and read as the beach was getting a bit scorching
14. swam
15. happy hour
16. watched the most incredible sunset I've seen to date in Thailand
17. dinner down the road (the 5 of us) at the same place we had the Indian food the other day but ate Thai this time
18. back to Miami and they went to bed
19. I went to Mongs and met 2 of the greatest people to date - she, Merilis, a 31 year old American with no direction who is wandering Asia helping countries ravashed by the Tsunami, and he, Matt, 24, a native of Oklahoma, recent graduate of Northern Arizona University (or is it college) who came to Thailand to teach English in order to postpone getting a real job in the states and wanting to travel, only to find himself caught in the Tsunami a week after he'd arrived and his story is quite amazing. If I could write a screenplay, I would. He is now teaching in Samui and has a great tale to tell that encompasses it all: natural disaster, love, pregnancy, abortion, lunch in Milan, and everything in between. He clearly isn't the same person as when he left the US just 5 months ago. I need to figure out how to turn his story into a movie.
20. bed

Day 29 - Sunday, March 13 - Ko Lanta

I'm going to try and make this real short as I need to get to the beach and work on this nice tan I have. The weather here is most excellent and I intend to come home a nice shade of golden brown.

So here goes.......TODAY WAS AWESOME. The end.

Ok, I'll try to elaborate just a bit. I woke up at 8:46A after many many many restful, cool hours of slumber. The air con makes all the difference in the world. I was well rested and felt great. It may have been the best night sleep I've had to date.

Just hung around Miami until 10:30A at which time the adventure began. We (the 5 of us) decided to get on the bikes and drive to Tham Khao Mai Kaew, an intense complex of caves the caves in the middle of the island. Some girls we met yesterday went and gave them a glowing recommendation. The Swedes didn't want to rent their own bikes so I rode Dave on the back of mine, the other Dave rode Carolina, and Katie rode alone. Not realizing how close the caves were to Miami, we decided to drive past the turn-off and I took them on a tour of the island that I had done yesterday. Once again, the drive was great, beautiful, and so peaceful. The roads had not been repaired since yesterday so needless to say, there were times when each of us almost bit it. I really am trying not to come home without a road tatoo from Ko Lanta.
We traversed the island a few times on the east - west roads and made our way back to the caves. We paid admission to a little family run business that run the guided cave tours. It's a good thing they have this nice little operation because there's no way we would have found the caves and there is no way, if we somehow did, would have come out alive.

The walk TO the cave was as strenuous as my trek and lasted about 35 minutes through a thick forest. By the time we got to the "entrance" to the cave, I thought I had lost all fluids in the form of sweat, and was just waiting for my body to shrivel up and collapse. We finally got to the "entrance" of the cave. This entailed climbing through an indistinct hole in the rocks and entered the series of caves.

This cave was much more dangerous that the one I explored on the trek and there were times I thought I was going to be left to die in there. My light that they supplied with my 200 baht admission fee went dead as did 2 others in the group, the guide walked along expecting us to know the way as well as he, and many times, I hit my noggin on a giant stalactite which, if I had a light, I may have seen. There were sections of the cave that were as big as the Staples Center and some that required us to squeeze through (and I mean squeeze) on your stomach as you wiggled like a worm to make your way to the next open space that was large enough to either crawl or if you were lucky, stand. We had a great time, saw some cool animals (i.e. bats, spiders, and even a cobra) and exited the cave a little over an hour later. Back at the motorcycles, we drenched ourselves with the hose that they were using to bathe their elephants and at that point, for the first time in my life, I actually felt like a filthy dirty elephant myself. We were covered head to toe in mud, dirt, and muck.

We got back on the bikes, headed right to Miami, and about 5 minutes into the drive, realized I had a flat tire. Luckily, there was a motorbike repair "shop" not too far away and for 130 baht, they got me back on the road in 10 minutes. The sign at Miami claims they will reimburse half the cost of a flat tire if given a receipt. Therefore, the fix was $1.71 out of my pocket. We got back to Miami and ran right into the ocean. I must find out the temperature of the ocean as it's the warmest yet refrshing body of water I've ever been in.

I found a new little mini - market, this time buying a case of large Chang which brough the price down to 37.50 baht each, filled the "cooler" with new beer and even cheaper ice and brought it back to Miami. We're going to get kicked out soon as they want us to buy alcohol and food from them and not bring any outside refreshments in.

Soon thereafter, happy hour began and then the frisbee throwing until sunset. It really has become quite the routine here at Lanta Miami on Khlong Nin Beach, Ko Lanta, Thailand.

Then it was back to Dave and Katie's porch where the 5 of us just sat, relaxed, and chatted until about 9. We went, as is, to the restaurant on Miami's beach and had a nice, simple, cheap meal.

By 11PM, I had 5 large Chang Beers, 2 Malibu pineapples, and I think the correct term was.......DRUNK! Dave and Carolina headed to bed and soon after so did Katie. Dave and I sat for another few hours shooting the shit and finally headed to our rooms at about 1:30A. I realized I hadn't called home in a while, so I used my trusty world phone, provided yes, by the very generous Mike Gearin, and chatted with my mom for a little bit before going to bed.

Today was really quite an unbelievably spectacular day!

Day 28 - Saturday, March 12 - Lo Lanta

I woke up at 7AM and figured out with all my tossing and turning and hanging out on the pitch black beach for those few hours, I really hadn't slept much throughout the night. The power on the island was still out and they had no idea for how long. This happens on occasion and life on the island continues just as before. I went right to the "front desk" and asked if they would have a room with Air Con tonight. She told me that C-2 was becoming available today and I could move there. PERFECT! I would be able to get a good cool night sleep tonight. I would have to leave the D row of cottages which has become home for the past few days with Dave and Katie and Dave and Carolina by my side but I think we'll survive.

I hung around, had breakfast, and moved my stuff to my new room as soon as it was cleaned. Dave and Katie came to see my new digs and said they were sorry to see me leave their row but understood how important Air Con was for those hot, sweaty, tropical nights. Sometime during my move, the power came back on so I tested the Air and it was great. I was already looking forward to this evenings sleep.

I rented the bike for another day, and took a drive north into town to see if there was any chance of finding some new flip-flops. Last night I was cleaning some of the road dust off mine, and it seems there is a tear in one that will give out any day. My poor Sanuk's, the best flips ever made, are not much longer for the world. Now I'll have to find a pair to hold me over until I can replace them when I get home. The problem..........finding a pair of flips in a size 12 American. The Thai don't grow their feet that big! Trying on shoes here is a real adventure! You tell them you want a size 12. Then you have to figure out what size that is in Thai. They don't really listen to your size as they just take a pair off the wall and give them to you to try on. When your foot is hanging off the end and they are clearly 2 or 3 sizes too small, they say, "ah, good size for you - fit you good - 200 baht". It's then a fight telling them that they don't fit and you aren't going to buy them. I then tell them in my English version of Thai, "no, I need bigger" and so it goes. Finally, you walk out on the street to the next stall and do the same. Remember, these are never proper "stores" as we know them, rather street stalls all selling the same crap.

In town, I had lunch, walked around, found an internet place that charged the normal 1 baht a minute over the 2 baht we've been paying down in our world, did a little catching up on the blog, and found a pair of flip-flops. Yes, on my 4th try, I found a pair that actually fit. They are a size 17 but that means nothing as a different size 17 I had tried on at a different place was about 4 sizes too small. They are not nearly as comfortable as my Sanuk's, which ironically, are made in California but is a Thai word for FUN, will have to do. They say "Nike" on them but somehow I don't think that Mr. Nike will be seeing a dime from my purchase. I can't imagine that this lovely store owner bought my "Nike's" from a reputable Nike rep. After all, like everything else, they were 200 baht.

Back at Miami, I swam, relaxed, and happy hour came as usual, just like clockwork. The waves on the beach were much larger than usual and you could see a little panic in some visitors eyes. It turns out there was a hurricane somewhere in the Indian Ocean and these waves are a side effect. The hurricane is moving towards Australia - it's not coming anywhere near Thailand so for all you Jewish mothers reading this, RELAX, we are fine.

The happy hour went just as planned - as it always does. Me, Dave, and Katie on their porch, and Dave and Carolina on theirs, sipping our large Beer Changs at 45 baht each. Always remembering that being the size of 2 US beers and 6.4% alcohol, 2 of them leave you nice and relaxed, if by some chance, the stresses of the day in Paradise somehow got the best of you.

The 4 of them decided to go to Cook Kai's for dinner. I opted to have dinner on the beach at Miami and selected a most incredible dish from their extensive menu. I originally was going to get fried rice with chicken for 50 baht and have a cheap dinner. Instead, like last time, that giant raw seafood boat caught my eye and those giant jumbo prawns called out to me. This time, they grilled them with vegetables and served it soaking in a great curry sauce, of course with a little side of steamed rice. It really was quite superb and all for 170 baht. It was just under $4.50 so I'll have to make up for that overage in my budget when ordering tomorrows meals. It was totally worth it as it was quite excellent.

I made my way to my new room, looking forward to sleeping in C-2 with Air Con, and passed out. I heard them knocking on my door for me to join them at Mong's for an after dinner drink, but there was no way I was getting up from my nice cool slumber only to fall asleep on the bar. It was so nice to be having a pleasant sleep. My company would have to wait until the morning when we all planned on taking a little bike trip to the caves on the southern end of the island. Dave and Caroline will ride on the back of me and Dave, and Katie will ride her own bike. My goal is to get back in one piece so I can write about the caves.

Thanks to Phil Collins, I just chalked one up for "another day for me in Paradise!"

Day 27 - Friday, March 11 - Ko Lanta

Woke up and went for my morning walk on the beach. At 9AM, I rented a motorbike so I could explore the rest of the island. The roads on this island are absolutely atrocious. Most of them aren't paved and the ones that are, are sometimes filled with 3-4 inches of road dust. The worst is when a car heading in the opposite direction or one that passes you drives through this stuff and kicks it up in your face.

Lanta Miami is almost in the middle of the island on the west coast. The island is oblong and the only beaches are on this side. I rode my bike north towards the pier which is at the very north point of the island. Halfway to the pier, about 7 kilometers, found a nice little breakfast spot and then continued to the pier. Apparently, this is the only real "town" on Koh Lanta and when the boat landed here a few days ago, I was wsisked off so quickly to my bunglows down south that I never got a chance to see it.

It's sort of a sleepy fishing village with some souvenir shops and restaurants - nothing special but charming nonetheless. It's great to have the bike as it opens up the entire island for me which is great on Lanta being that I don't think there are any taxis - or at least I haven't seen one yet.

I headed back down south but decided to turn left on some red clay road that took me to the east side of the island. I then proceeded to drive all the way south to the very tip of the island occasionally passing really neat little villages. . The ride was beautiful, periodically arriving at great look-out points that were breathtaking. I made my way back to Miami after about 5 or 6 hours of exploring and made it back here without falling, skidding, or killing myself.

I found Dave and Carolina on the beach and hung out a bit. We swam, sat out and discussed future plans. They are going to try to motivate to leave here on Monday for Koh Pha Ngan. I told them I had no idea what my plan was but I was in the preliminary stages of extending my trip a little bit longer. I thought about it a lot last night and not so sure I'll be coming home as planned on the 28th but I have no new date to offer you blog readers. If there was an STA office here and I could just walk in and change my ticket, I would but the closest one is in Bangkok and I can't even imagine what it's going to be like to change it over the phone in this country. I'll have someone from Miami who speaks Thai help me with that phone call in the next few days.

Dave and Katie soon showed up and informed us we were late for Happy Hour. I hopped on the bike to get some beer and came back with the works. I had found a little store and bought ice and a bucket. We now have the most advanced happy hour bar at all of Miami. We don't go to Mong's for happy hour as his large Chang Beer is almost double what we can buy it for in town. As the sun started to drop, the 4 of them headed out to the sand to throw the frisbee and I headed out on the bike for a sunset drive south. I came across a little uninhabited beach and climbed on the rocks a bit, swam a bit, and got back on the bike and made my way south passing some amazing view points as the sun was setting. It was cooling down a bit, the wind felt great, and I felt amazing. A little while later, as it was now dark, I made my way back to Miami with a few beers for the "cooler" and found Dave and Caroline heading to dinner and Dave and Katie and I just sat on their porch and talked for a while. We showered and headed across the street to Cook Kai, a local restaurant, that has become their favorite and had a great dinner. I had some Paenang Chicken but as god as it was, I think mine from cooking class in Chiang Mai was better. After dinner, we headed home and I passed out..........for about 2 hours. The Miami people hate when we don't eat our meals here and they sometimes even comment about it. They are under some illusion that when you sign up to stay here, that you are supposed to eat all your meals and drinks here too. Some people, I must add, do that but I like to eat around and see what else the island has to offer. Sometimes, they even have been known to raise the price of the room if you aren't eating your meals here.

I woke up at 3AM hot and sweaty and I was really wishing I had moved toa room with Air Con this morning before I headed out on the bike. When I had returned, there were none available. The fan was just moving the hot still air in circles and then after staring at it for about 20 minutes, it stopped. The island had lost all power. I went out to the beach and it was pitch black. The sky was jet black with the brightest stars I've ever seen. I sat in the darkness on the beach until about 4AM and tried to to back to bed. I was tossing and turning and finally fell asleep again at about 5AM.

Day 26 - Thursday, March 10 - Ko Lanta

Thanks to my friend Iain, I stole this excercise from his blog. Click on the link below and see how well you do. After traveling and meeting people from all over the world, I think I need to learn the geography of my own country a little better!

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html

Woke up early, showered, and went to enjoy some breakfast on the beach. If you haven't already processed the mental picture, everything you can possibly do here is situated on the beach. Why set up an indoor restaurant / bar / or lounge, when you can have the oceans backdrop? Had breakfast and at 8:30, and at 9, as promised a large speedboat anchored just a few feet from the beach to pick me up to go to Ko Rok. Once again, I stopped, looked around, and made sure to take mental pictures so I can remember this paradise as I step on the concrete at LAX in a few weeks from now (well, that is, of course, if something unforseen is the catalyst in making me miss my flight home).

The boat ride to Ko Rok was about an hour on the open Andaman Sea. As Ko Lanta was just an hazy outline in the distance, Ko Rok National Park started to appear. We anchored a little distance from this blue beach with white powfery sand for the first snorkeling site. I must admit, I really haven't done much snorkeling in my life so I wasn't really sure how exciting it was going to be.

I jumped in, put my face in the water and could not believe my eyes. This was the most outrageous site I've ever seen. It was a giant underground city. I've seen pictures of great coral reefs but to witness it with my own eyes was astounding. With the aqua water as a background, the colors of the fish and coral blew me away. I saw fish of all shapes, sizes, colors and species. At some points, the water was 20-30 feet deep (that's a guess) and the coral jetted up to about 5 feet from my face. A few times, I dove down to touch it to make sure it was real.

After 45 minutes, we docked on the beach to swim, snorkel some more and have lunch. We were there about 2.5 hours and it was great. Ko Rok is an uninhabited National Park and it is absolutely gorgeous. There's no hint of anything other than nature and some people enjoying it. The national park rents tents so you can stay there for a few nights in the wooded area with nothing surrounding you aside from the pure natural beauty. When you are in the "woods", you can see through the clearing past the white white beaches to the blue blue sea and it's most spectacular.

There were about 14 of us on this little trip but noone really that special to strike up a conversation with but it was a really peaceful relaxing time.

After we left the beach, we anchored again by another reef nearby and we saw some more of the craziest reefs and fish. At one point, I was just floating with my face in the water in awe at what I was seeing and even more at awe that me, being the dumbass that I am, left my underwater camera in my room.

After another 45 minutes, we got back on the boat and headed back to Koh Lanta. The ride was about an hour. I got back to Miami at about 4PM and on the way to my bungaow, ran into Dave and Katie. They were on the porch of their bungalow enjoying their afternoon ritual. 4p-6p on the porch, watching the sun go down as it's really too hot to sit on the beach at this time. It's just short of scorching. They were about to make their Beer Chang run to the litle store across the way and invited me to join them. So, back on Dave and Katies porch it was, just like yesterday, shooting the shit, and drinking some 6.4& Beer Chang. The other recent Miami residents, Dave, and Carolina, from Sweeden soon arrived and the 5 of us hung out for another hour. As the sun fell down over the horizon and an hour of throwing the frisbee on the beach, We showered and walked up the beach a little bit to an "Indian" restaurant. It was actually pretty good and I must say, I was impressed. Although some of it may have looked different from what I am used to, the flavor was there and there was no misunderstanding - I was eating Indian food on the beach in Thailand.

After dinner, we headed to "Cocktail Bar Miami". This is the bar owned by Mong which is adjacent to the restaurant on the beach at Miami. Something I really haven't touched on yet is the religious difference between up north and here. The north of Thailand is predominantly Buddist while the south is mostly Muslim. It's a completely different world down here. Personally, I think the buddist are more friendly but that can turn into a whole essay which I don't have time for and you don't want to read. Anyhoo, Mong is great. He plays all classic US rock, loves people and makes his bar, your bar. He has tables set up on the beach, bamboo mats in front of a bon fire, a great wooden bar made entirely from wood from the sea, and everyone who comes to spend an evening with Mong goes away with a smile on their face. The bar was destroyed in the Tsunami, but he got it rebuilt and it very proud of it. He loves to tell people about his Tsunami experience and how he had to find new sea wood to make it even better than it was before.

Being that most of the accomodations in the South are Muslim, the restaurants can't serve alcohol as the Muslim people don't drink so buddist people come down here and rent beach space from the bungalow establishments and open up their own bar. Therefore, as a guest at these bungalows, you can still drink and have a bar on the grounds but the bars are owned by the buddist and not the muslims who own the bungalows. At dinner, there are 2 "waiters" - one for food and one that Mong sends over for drinks.

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way. The 5 of us spent the rest of the night drinking at Mongs (the nickname of the bar), talking, laughing and coming to a decision that affects the rest of my trip. Dave and Katie have adopted me and don't want me to go to Ko Tao and Ko Phan Ngan. They don't understand why I need to go to another island if I have found my "paradise" here. They have a good point, but I haven't decided what to do yet. They are going to stay here another few weeks and then make their way to start their journey.

For those coming to Thailand, do not START your vistit on the beaches. I can't imagine going to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, etc, AFTER spending time on the islands.

We split up and stumbled to our rooms at about 1AM. Tomorrow, I'm going to rent a motorbike and see the north end of Lanta just so I can see it, walk the beaches, and be a travel expert on Lanta. I guess what I'm saying is I need to find the perfect spot to open Lanta Hammer, the newest bungalow operaton on the island which I hope to have up and running by years end. You are all invited to join me in the opening celebration (for 400 baht a night of course).

Another fantastic day was had by Marc in Thailand. How can tomorrow top this one, just you wait and see!

Day 25 - Wednesday, March 9 - Ko Lanta

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - no, not to me, to the person who's birthday it is today. Just like tradition, my card will be late.

Woke up at 6:30A and got ready. I was the first one out and the beach was as peaceful as I've seen it yet. There are barely any waves here, sometimes a tiny little ripple. I waited for the rest to wake up, I wrote a little in my journal and took a walk on the beach. By 6:50, Tuci and Nadine were out and we had settled our bills.

From the time I had arrived in Lanta on Monday at noon, until this morning, my room and food bill had reached 840 baht and my bar bill was 600 baht. That totals 1440 ($37.89) baht for all food, beverage, and my bunglaow. It would have been even lower if I wasn't such a sport and bought a few rounds of drinks for others. If you really want to, and you don't abuse the bar (including the fresh fruit shakes, soda, beer, etc,) and drink bottled water, you can very easily live on $5 - $6 a day. I love it here!

We got back in that awful pick-up truck and headed back over the dusty windy roads along the various beaches. Tuci and Nadine were going to the pier to catch a boat to Phuket and I was going just a bit north on Ko Lanta to a different beach. While I loved it down south, the beach I'm heading to next is a little more populated. Still no stores, shops, and blatent signs of tourism, I hear this stretch of beach has a few guesthouses / bungalows and not just one like the little beach of Khlong Jack that I had grown to love over the past few days.

The truck dropped me off at Lanta Miami - the suggestion of Alex Sohn's sister. I immediately fell in love with it. The water is great, the bunglaows are clean and newer looking, not as rustic, and the beach, beautiful. They showed me to my bungalow and I settled in. I think I have found 2 great spots on Lanta and managed to avoid all the tourism it has to offer - if indeed there is any. I had breakfast on the beach, and although like Khlong Jack, there are no waves on the beach, just a constant ripple coming in from the sea that gives it a nice relaxing feeling as the swoosh sound hits the beach. I'll just call this place Paradise #2.

After breakfast, I walked the length of the beach (maybe 1.5 miles) and saw some places that looked like they will be great for drinks or possibly dinner tonight if I don't eat at Miami. There even seems to be somewhat of a nightlife in the form of a reggae bar on the beach under a straw hut and another bar that advertises they have "fire show" at 10PM.

Back at MIAMI, I sat on the beach, swam, snorkeld a bit to get ready for my big day trip tomorrow to Ko Rok, an unbelieveable snorkeling sight I'm told, and even managed to take a nap.

That wasn't just ANY nap. This was a nap on a hammock, outside my bungalow, on the beach, in the shade that this great banana tree provided, listening to the sounds of the sea as exotic birds sat overhead singing a song. If this is what heaven is like, sign me up!

I woke up and on my way to the bar, I met Katie and Dave sitting on their porch just a few bungalows down from me. This is a great story. Both 38, he from Boston but living in Seattle and she from Seattle, are traveling for an indefinite period of time. They got married 4 years ago and have been working at the same company for years. They both quit their jobs, sold their condo, sold their cars, and put whatever they wanted to keep in storage, sold the rest, and started the first leg of their trip in Bangkok and now in Ko Lanta. They have no plans and will make it up along the way. They could be gone for 6 months, but probably a year to a year and a half. I would love to talk to them at the end of their journey to hear where they ended up visiting. After a long chat with them, we had a beer at the bar on the beach. After a long while, they headed back to their bungalow and I had dinner. Unlike at Khlong Jack, there are a choice of restaurants here but I chose to stay at Miami.

I wish each and every one of you could be here to experience this with me. Ko Lanta is peace on earth. Lanta Miami is a huge thumbs up and must be put on your list of places. Of course, one mans paradise is another mans shithole so maybe you shouldn't come here and I'll just keep it as my own little hideaway. This isn't the place to come though if you want a wild nightlife, although, I haven't been to the northern beaches where I hear there is a little more action. I don't need to see that in fear it could be anything like Phuket and spoil my image of this place.

I hope to sleep like a baby tonight and wake up well rested for my trip to Ko Rok.

Koh Lanta Update - Monday into Tuesday, March 8

So last I wrote, I had arrived at Khlong Jack Bunglaows and while at almost the southern most point on the island and not a town, or anything in sight, I slowly began to get acclimated to my paradise.

PARADISE FOUND........and for 100 baht a night.

I bunch of people were at the "bar" (a hut on the beach with some wooden tables) and we had an introduction cocktail. That led to some swimming, some lunch (at the hut adjacent to the bar) and getting to know your new beach talk. There are about 18 people in total staying at this place and from what I can tell, it's going to be great. The afternoon was spent on the beach, at the bar, laying in hammocks, and relaxing. After we got back from the "town", we (Tuci, Nadine, and I) decided on dinner and we sat around and talked and drank until about 1AM. Their English isn't perfect but it's pretty damn good and they like to be corrected and taught how to say new things so it's fun.

The help is so friendly and so are the other people staying here.

I got to bed at about 1:30A and at 2AM, the winds started. Remember, I am in a bamboo hut so you hear pretty much everything outside. All of a sudden, I started to hear wild winds followed by an insane smashing noise coming from the roof of my hut. Remember, this place is remote. Very little electricity so when you want to walk around at night, you need a flashlight or you may end up walking a while and ending up somewhere you don't want to. I went outside and after looking around with my little flashlight, I realized that there was some metal sheeting on the corners of the roof on the outside and one of my panels was lose. it was flapping and smashing into the other panel it rested on and it was LOUD. This went on ALL NIGHT. I barely slept and when I did, it was only for about 15 minutes at a time until the next wind came.

March 8th - and a big shout out to Dave - Happy Birthday Dave!

I got out of my hut at about 6:30A and as soon as I saw someone from the guesthouse, I told them and they said they would fix it before tonight. I hope they do because that would drive me nuts for 2 days in a row.

I went down to the beach, took a morning swim, watched the sun as it rose above the black rocky cliffs that outlined the beach and waited for others to wake. Andre was first. I was glad being I'm not a big fan of Thomas, his traveling buddy. I'm not so sure he likes Americans and he's making that known. Oh well, everyone can't like us.

By 9AM, everyone was up, people were making their way to the breakfast hut and people were planning their days. Oh yeah, there's nothing to plan as the options are pretty simple: sit on the beach, sit on a hammock, swim, sleep, or take a walk on the dusty dirt road to the next guesthouse down the road and do the same things on the next beach over, a completley deserted one. I had breakfast with Tuci and Nadine and then sat on the beach for a little bit. After a Beer Chang at 11AM, the 3 of us went for a walk. the beach is crescent shaped and at each end are black craggy cliffs that look like volcanic rock. We started climbing the rocks and made out way over to the next beach. There was nothing on this beach but 3 people sunbathing who had to have gotten there the same way we did or from the other end. We walked across the beach, and climbed over the next set of jetty like rocks and found another beach. Once again, nothing here but a guesthouse that had been damaged by the tsunami and not operational at the moment.

Tuci and Nadine turned back and I went further. Over more rocks and a few beaches later, I arrived at a dead end as there was no way around this one. The black rock jetted up from the sea straight to the sky that it was nearly impossible and I wasn't in the mood to swim all the way around it. On the way back, while climbing some rock, I tried to balance myself between two boulders to take a photo and I slipped. Although just a slight cut on my finger, I think I had more blood on my hands than OJ had after he didn't kill Nicole and Ron. I had my 35mm camera around my neck and the back had popped open upon hitting the rock. All the photos I took from Phi Phi til today had now been exposed to extreme sunlight and I was slightly upset. Nothing I can do about it and remember the motto of this trip is........ummmmm.........I forget but it doesn't allow room for being upset, annoyed, or pissed off for any reason whatsoever. Further down the beach, I saw some great bungalows. It turned out they were a handful of cottages that belonged to the hotel that sat above them. I realized I had stumbled across a jewel of Lanta. This place was AWESOME. It was a 4 star resort with a crazy pool, awesome grounds nestled in the cliffs and mountains above the beach and a room here could be yours for the low low (and it was pretty low) price of 11,500 baht a night but discounted to 8500. I could have gotten him down even more but what was the point in trying if I had no intentions of staying there. I moved on, made my way back to my own little paraside and had some lunch and tried to re-hydrate after my crazy walk and rock climbing. After lunch, we just hung on the beach, swam a little and napped.

Tuci and Nadine are great and I do plan keep in touch with them. We have really bonded and it will be sad to see them go tomorrow.

We had dinner on the beach and sat, drank and talked until a little after midnight. I went to my bungalow and packed up. The little pick-up truck was going to take Tuci and Nadine to the pier tomorrow morning and I was going to go a little further north to a beach that may be a little more populated than this one. While this place is awesome, I'm ready to see another part of the island and from what I hear, I have a great destination.

Stay tuned.......

Day 23 - Monday, March 7 - Travel to Ko Lanta via Phi Phi

I woke up and packed my things and got down to the Lobby. The bus picked me up to take me to Phuket Town to catch the ferry to Ko Lanta.

The ferry ride was ok, although pretty rough at times. I met a few people and slept a little too. I wasn't aware, but the ferry stops at Phi Phi for an hour and then you board another boat for Lanta.

Without getting into details, Phi Phi is a complete MESS. Or at least the center of town is where the pier is as well. Photos will only be able to further explain as there are no words to really describe the devastation. I was told that there are some beaches that are ok, but this place was really not to be believed. For people who have been to Phi Phi prior to the Tsunami, the place you call Paradise is a very sad place at the moment. While the natural beauty is still there with awesome blue green water and the limestone cliffs that jet out of the sea to meet the sky and then just a little stretch over the whitest of white sandy beaches, the destruction is unreal.

An hour later, we got back on the boat and headed to Ko Lanta. I met David, an Englishman who now lives in Sweeden and we compared notes on Lanta. My friend Dylan told me to stay on the north end of the island and Emma told me the south was quiet, peaceful, and secluded. I went with Emma's suggestion for the first night or 2 and see exactly HOW isolated it is.

On the pick-up truck ride to the Khlong Jack Bungalows, I befriended Tuci and Nadine, a German couple traveling through Thailand for a month.

The drive to the south end of the island is mostly on dusty dirt roads that fill the entire back of the open air pickup truck with the stuff. We were covered in dust and road dirt by the time we got to the southern most point on the island..... Khlong Jack Bungalows. This place is isolated alright. A bunch of bamboo huts on the beach, a huge ocean to stare at and that's about it. I THINK I FOUND MY PARADISE or at least found it for a night or so. There is NOTHING to do here and I love it. Coincidentally, there are 5 of us from the same ferry that ended up here. I think it was a little TOO remote for Dave, the English guy, so he went somewhere else. I have no idea HOW he got to where he was going as this place is at the end of the world and not near anything else. There are no taxis, no boat taxi's, and no civilization. I am now hanging out with Tuci, Nadine, Thomas, and Andre (all 4 Germans but traveling in 2 groups of 2) and there are 2 American girls on the beach as well. I think this place is going to be awesome.

I have my own little porch in my own little bungalow on the beach. A beautiful stretch of white sand and blue water with a 100 year old man giving Thai Massages about 25 feet from the water. The place has a little "restaurant" and 3 resident cats. That's about it. I just took a walk into town. HA! Town is a 10 minute walk and consists of an internet shop with VERY SLOW connection in the back of a little convenience store. That is IT! There isn't a restaurant, a shop, an Indian tugging at me to buy a suit, watch, or sunglasses, no tuk tuks, NOTHING. It's solitude. I actually feel like Gilligan. The restaurant looks as if the castaways of Gilligan's Island actually built it.

So here I am.......signing off for a few days. I wont be blogging until I can get back to civilization. I'm definitely going to stay here for at least 2 nights and then when Tuci and Nadine leave, I may head to one of the northern beaches for a few nights. It will give you time to cach up if you are behind, take a few days off from me and my antics, and please, just know, I am happy, healthy, and have found my beach bungalow that I have been searching and yearning for. Until next time.........

Day 22 - Sunday, March 6 - Phuket

Waking up was tough today. I'm not in college anymore and I think my body (and my liver) hated me at 7:20A as the little chirping alarm clock made itself known.

Nevertheless, I managed to get ready pretty quickly and went down to the lobby. The alcohol hadn't absorbed fully into my system and I certainly wasn't hungry for breakfast. I decided to reply to some e-mails and as I was sitting at the computer, the lovely lady at the reception desk called over to me and announced I had a phone call. Who the hell was calling me at "The Little Mermaid Hotel" in Phuket, Thailand? It was the guy from the tour group who I booked the day trip through. "I'm sorry Mr. Marc, but the boat to Phi Phi will cancel today - the captain says wave too big and no safe today".

SHIT. The entire reason I stayed here another day was for my day trip to Phi Phi. I was disappointed but no reason to get bent out of shape. I finished my e-mail and said....."screw these people, I'll get myself to Phi Phi". I went across the street to catch the city bus to Chalong Bay. That's where lots of day excursions leave from. I really didn't know how to get there but when the bus came, I asked and the driver said he could stop at Chalong on the way to Phuket Town. COOL, I was in business. When you get on the bus, you don't have to pay right away. Periodically, the bus driver will pull over and come around and collect money. When he did this, I pointed to my map and asked him when I should get off. He said......"oh, so sorry, Chalong back that way - I forgot - so sorry". I now was on a bus to Phuket Town again and I really never wanted to go back there again. He said he would show me how to get back once at Phuket Town. A few minutes later, he flagged down a bus heading in the opposite direction and waved me off the bus and onto the new one. That was great as I didn't have to waste any more time.

These busses don't normally stop at Chalong Bay. About 10 minutes later, the driver pulled over and pointed me in the direction of the Bay and I walked the rest of the way. I walked down to the pier and the surf was pretty choppy. There were dozens of speedboats, long tail boats, and crusiers tied to the buoys and I was convinced I would find SOMEONE to take me to Phi Phi. NO SUCH LUCK. I even asked a few local fisherman but was turned down. I went to a few local tour offices and they said I couldn't go to Phi Phi for the day as if I got on a boat at noon, I would already miss the last boat back to Phuket by the time I got there. I exhausted all options I knew of and figured Phi Phi just wasn't meant to be. I could stay another day and try tomorrow, but I didn't want to stick around here and prolong my arrival in Lanta any more.

I walked to the main road and found a motorcycle taxi back to the beach. I still don't know why they don't carry an extra helmet for the passenger.

Got back to Karon and went right on the beach. The sun was out, the water blue, sand white, and I was excited to get in the water. As I headed towards the water, I saw a big long-tail boat just offshore that had my name on it. I swam out to him, asked him how much for a little drive around the beaches and agreed on a price and hopped on. We went south past Karon, Kata, and a few other gorgeous beaches. Once you are ON the beaches here or looking AT them from the water, it really is a beautiful place. It's just the towns and the people here that I am not a fan of. It does suit many peoples needs I guess as that's why it's the most popular tourist destination in the south of Thailand.

During my boat ride, I jumped off the boat a few times to swim and it was great.

Back at Karon, I sat on the beach for a little while and found a little roadside noodle shop for lunch.

It got a little cloudy so I popped into a little bar for a drink and just bummed around the rest of the day.

I showered and went back to Tka Bar and Kata Mama Seafood, the locale of last nights mayhem because there was some talk about meeting up again tonight. The army wasn't there so I had dinner and a few drinks and pondered many thoughts of which I wont bore you with. HOWEVER, for dinner, I had some fride rice and 4 JUMBO PRAWNS "bbq'd in garlic" and they were FANTASTIC. These things were massive! The flavor was very similar to the shrimp at the Kuhuku Shrimp Truck on the North Shore of Oahu that I fell in love with while shooting there last year.

After dinner, I decided to walk back to the "Mermaid". It's a pretty long walk, but there was a nice breeze masking the humidity and it felt great. Got back to the hotel at about 1AM and went straight to bed for my crossing to Lanta in the AM.

SIDENOTE: The prostitution here is RIDICULOUS. All you see are
old (and young, but mosltly old) horny, gross, pathetic men who pick up
these young girls for a night or a weekend. It's so blatent. It's
pretty sad at the same time. Lots of times they are sitting at an
outdoor restaurant groping each other and kissing because it's the only
universal language they have. Other times you see them sitting on a
beach with one another doing the same. ALWAYS holding hands and gazing
into each others eyes cause it's the only thing they can do together.
She speak no English and he certainly speak no Thai except for "suckie
for a buckie" and even then, not so sure she understands.

On the walk home from the next beach over, there is a stretch of
nothingness on the road. There are these hookers and ladyboys
(sometimes you can't tell if they were born a man until you get real
close) who patrol this stretch of road (both by foot AND on motorbike)
and when they see you coming in the distance, they get all ready and go
in for the kill as you approach. The ones on foot, primp themselves up
as if they were looking in an invisible mirror and the ones on bike pull
ahead of you, stop the bike, get off, and do the same primping until the
distance between you 2 is the appropriate one for them to make their
move. It's funny cause you can see them gearing up and going in for the
kill just like the guys who man the area outside their "tailor" shops
trying to get you to buy a suit.

Last night I encountered one of the same ones who I wasn't so nice to
after literally 3 or 4 minutes of her trying on Saturday night and she
looked over and gave me a look and drove away. Then she started making
circles around me on her bike as if it were intimidating me. At least
she remembered me and didn't harrass me but it's not like it happens
just once on a walk. It goes on every 50 feet or so. I'm happy to be leaving here!

Photos # 3 - Phuket

I just developed one roll of 35mm film today just to make sure my camera was working fine as I haven't used it in a while. The link below will take you to Snapfish where I have posted just a few of them so you can see what the beaches of Phuket look like.

As I said earlier, the beaches are beautiful even if the towns and people here aren't. As long as you spend your time on the sand or in the water, whether it be swimming or on a boat, this place is great.

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=88461110112493520/l=43459655/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Day 21 - Saturday, March 5 - Phuket

A very happy Thai Birthday to Bert!

sa·rong ( P ) Pronunciation Key (s-r๔ng, -rng)n.
A garment consisting of a length of printed cloth wrapped about the waist that is worn by men and women in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Pacific islands.

Ditch the towel. All you need is a sarong. It's extremely multi-functional. It can be used to mop the sweat off your brow as you are walking and melting. It can be used as a towel in the guesthouses that don't provide them, a beach blanket, and it dries real fast. Towels take too long to dry!

Decided to pay a visit to Phuket Town today and also bring some excess baggage to the "recently opened" Mail Boxes Etc store that Lonely Planet mentions. Caught a bus at around noon from outside the hotel to Phuket Town. The bus took an hour and when I got off in Phuket, I had a brief conversatiopn with these 2 English guys who were on the bus. I went on my way and tried to find MBE. Finally, I hired a tuk tuk to take me to where I thought it was. Phulet tuk tuks have a scam going. It's not that different from the scummy ones in Bangkok. It's not really a scam but it works like this: You get in the back and tell him where you want to go. He then tells you that he will take you to a shop first and then take you to your destination. At that shop, he, being the driver, gets a stamp in this little book. When his book is filled, he gets free gas. The shop owners do this to get people into their stores especially now that the tourism is at an all time low here. A lot of the driver will not take you if you refuse the "shopping" part. All you need to do is walk in the giant store, walk around for 2 minutes and leave. You are not obligated to buy anything nor does anyone pressure you to. I got in, went to this giant gem store, looked around for 3 minutes, left with nothing and got back in the tuk tuk. He let me out on the road I wanted but nowhere near where I wanted to be. Yes, I was on Th Puket (that's the street name) but after looking and reading the map for 15 minutes, I realized I was about a mile from where I needed to be. I walked to where MBE was according to Lonely Planet and after asking 36 people and walking up and down, I figured out that the MBE has closed since publication of the edition I have.

An hour later, I stumbled across a DHL office and dumped my stuff off, paid an arm and a leg to ship it home and then decided I had seen enough of Phuket town and I tired to find the bus stop. Along the way, I ran into Pete and Simon, the 2 English guys I met briefly on the bus ride over there. This time we had a formal introduction. They informed me I was heading in the wrong direction back to the bus and showed me the way.

While waiting for the bus, we found some guy who offered us a ride back to Kata / Karon for 50 bht each IF we allowed him to take us "shopping". I wasn't so keen on the idea being that I just did that 2+ hours ago, but we figured it was the best way to get back. Who knows what time the next bus would arrive and it takes a lot longer on the bus than a car. We hopped in, went back to the same gem shop I had visited with the earlier driver and within minutes were back on the road to the beaches. Along the way, the sky darkened and the wind picked up. There was dust, sand and dirt flying everywhere and if I didn't know better, I would have though it was a tornado or a monsoon. Then the thunder, lighting, and RAIN came. Torrential rain. It was nice to see some weather for a change.

We made it back to the beaches, dropped off Pete and Simon in Kata and made a plan to meet for drinks / dinner at the reggae bar at the south end of Kata Beach at 7:30P. Got back to the "Mermaid" and hung out for a bit before it was time to shower and head out again. At this point, it had stopped raining and cooled down slightly. There was a period of about 6 minutes that it even felt as if the humidity dropped.

Got a tuk tuk to Kata and walked along the beach a bit before I got to Kta Bar. Reggae it was. On the beach it was. It was exactly what I wanted out of drinks and dinner on the beach in Thailand. Everyone soon showed up and after being introduced to 12 of the remaining members of the group, I assessed the future of the evening and had an inkling of the possibility of ending end up face down in the sand only to be awoken at sunrise by a stray dog finding my head as good a place as any to relieve his own self of an evening of his own debauchery.

We had a few beers and got a table for 15. Dinner was good. I had some FRIDE NOODLES WITH PRAWNS (yes, that's how it was spelled). After paying the bill, we headed back over to the bar and 4 of us proceeded to order from the specialty drinks menu starting at the top and making our way to the bottom. We made it to the 5th or 6th one down and I'm not quite sure what happened after that. I believe I arrived back at the "Mermaid" at about 3AM and fell into bed. My alarm had already been set for 7:20A so I would be in the lobby by 8A for the bus to the boat to Phi Phi.

A great time was had by all tonight.

Day 20 - Friday, March 4 - Travel to Phuket

ADDENDUM TO THURSDAY, MARCH 3rd:

So I left the computer and headed to my room. Out back, in the garden, I stumbled across a group of young drinking travelers. I had all intentions of passing them by and going to sleep but one of the girls said hello as I was sneaking by so I went over to return the gesture. Well, that simple hello turned into a late night evening of drinking with 4 Canadian girls and 6 Irish guys who were all leaving on the trek today with Rooney. It was a very cool bunch and we had a lot of fun. It took about 45 minutes to finally master their Irish accents but once I did, I realized.....the Irish aren't always drunk, they just sound it. The group didn't break up until after 3AM and it was really time to go to bed. I would be able sleep on the flight - I did not envy the trekkers. They're going to have a blast and I presume the village will run out of moonshine by the time they leave.

The girls: 4 Canadians traveling for 6 months around Asia and Australia. They are a month into the trip and already are experiencing troubles traveling. Both with the elemets and each other.

The guys: 6 Irish guys either just out of University or within 2 years out are traveling around the world for 12 months. They head to the US next February as their last stop before heading back home. They're fly into LAX and have no idea what to do or where to go with their 10 days in the US. Someone has told them that LA isn't the best place to travel and get around if you don't have a car. They are thinking of going up to San Francisco - they heard it was a fun city. Trying to do the US in 10 days seems silly but one of the guys is solely determined to have a Twinkie and a hot dog from a street vendor. I hope he isn't disappointed in the twinkie and I have no idea where to get a hot dog from a street vendor in LA. I wonder if they'll e-mail when they are getting close. Will I even remember them a year from now?

I called it a night and went to bed.

Woke up at 8AM and showered and got ready. Headed down to breakfast at Libra and ran into Shawna, the canadian girl from yesterday morning. We had breakfast and chatted it up. The group of trekkers slowly came down and we all had breakfast together. I said my goodbyes to Libra for the final time, Boo Boo said she would reserve my room for next year, Rooney said he loved me, and the bitch at the front "desk" nodded and said something under her breath. I tried to stay away from her since day 1 as I wasn't a big fan. I'm not so sure she's a big fan of life! She may be the only unhappy Thai I've met to date. I said goodbye to the trekkers and got in my Tuk Tuk to the airport.

My Thai Airways flight left at 11:15A and I landed in Phuket about 2:15. Flying in over the beach was great. I saw green mountains, blue water, and I was excited to finally be in the South.

I originally took the advice of my friend, Dylan, who did a similar trip in November and bought a bus ticket to go to Phuket Town. He said to stay in town and not the beaches. When I wanted to go to the beaches, "go to the beaches", he said, but stay in town. After waiting for the bus and talking to a few different people, I changed my mind and decided to change my ticket and pay the difference to go to Patong Beach. Still waiting for the bus, I changed my mind yet again with the help of 2 french guys who told me Patong SUCKED and if I wanted something a little more quiet, go to Karon Beach or Kata Beach. I went inside, added yet a little more money and changed my ticket in for one to Karon beach. It seemed a little less touristy, and not as hectic as Patong from what I was reading and hearing.

On the bus, I met Stuart. What a character! He's 56, born and raised a Brooklyn Jew, drafted in 1968 and since the war, hates America. He moved to Scandinavia after the war, stayed away for 7 years, and finally went to Florida to see his mom (dad died when he was very young) and now occassionally visits his sister who lives on 4th and Pier just minutes from me in LA. His mom died in 86. He is a Karon Beach expert, loves Phuket, and has an opinion about everything. Keep in mind that this bus ride from the airport to Karon Beach was 2 hours long. He was here in Phuket last week, left for a few days to meet a friend in Pattaya (another Thai resort town a little further northeast) and is now back here for 3 days before heading back to the cold of Scandinavia.

The first few stops were various points on Patong Beach. I thanked many people that I wasn't staying at Patong. That place was horrible but I guess serves it's purpose to some coming to Phuket.

As my new friend Chris Jaymes said, "It's nice that it exists because it keeps the old German sex holiday men from invading the rest of the country."

The next stop was Karon and it seemed much quieter and less obnoxious. I, at this point, was happy to have chosen this beach. I was NOT happy to see that there are no accommodations in this area with huts / bungalows ON the beach. I want a beach hut with a grass roof and a hammock out front literally ON the sand. This place is more hotels across a busy road with shops, stores, and restaurants and 36,000 Indian store owners who want you to come inside their shop and let them make you a tailored suit. I was not happy with Phuket at this point, but always remember that when unhappy or not liking a certain place or thing, you can move on. I decided to drop my bags at Stuarts hotel, and look for my own place. We went across to a bar, had a few beers and some chicken satay and I learned that as messed up as you think you are, there is always someone worse!!! Back at the hotel, I paid for a room for the night and then look around to see if I liked anything better. The room here is the most I've paid so far - 595 baht for a room with A/C, mini-bar, satellite TV, and clean. Not spotless, just clean. I put my things in the room, realized the only station I get in English was Animal Planet and then knew that I bet this TV would never be turned on again.

I changed out of my travel clothes which meant I took off my sneakers and put on flips, and headed out. I wanted to be open minded to Phuket but, within minutes, I realized that I didn't like it here and was going to get out fast. I walked. I walked. I walked. I was sweating. I was sweating. I was melting. It was so hot and humid but it felt good. I walked more and ended up walking from Karon Beach to Kata Beach. I checked out a few guesthouses and found one I liked with a pool. It was the same price as the hotel, but I liked the atmosphere of the guesthouse better. You also get a different sort of traveler who stays at guesthouses. That's exactly it, you get travelers and not tourists at guesthouses. I walked more and it was getting dark. I must have walked 4 miles, maybe 5 and hadn't turned back to head home yet. I walked past many hotels, resorts, shops, restaurants, roadside carts, guesthouses, etc. I walked past Club Med and the Marriott something or other.

As far as Phuket goes, it's hard to say what it's like post Tsunami without a point of reference. I'm staying at a beach that was certainly hit, but 2+ months later it looks pretty good. To me, it looks like some Mexico beach towns I've been to that just look like they need a sweeping. There's a lot constructon, but if I didn't KNOW of a Tsunami, I would just think things were being built or remodeled. Also remember, this island is HUGE and all parts weren't hit so if anyone askes if its "SAFE" to come to Phuket, ABSOLUTELY. The biggest problem they say they Phuket will have is the spread of AIDS and other STS diseases when women are forced to turn to prostitution to make money that they are losing without tourism.

The more I walked, the more I realized that it was giving me a weird vibe as I thought about the recent events. This, coupled with not liking it in the first place was creeping me out. I came up with a plan. I am going to spend tomorrow here on Phuket. I'll sit on the beach a little bit, maybe go to see if there's anything to see in Phuket Town, and lay low. On Sunday, I'll book a day trip to Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee, for those not in the know). Phi Phi, made up of Phi Phi Ley and Phi Phi Don are supposed to be magnificently beautiful and although hit hard, the natural beauty of the blue water and limestone formations jetting out from the ocean must be seen. On this day trip, you are taken around the Andaman Sea in a big speed boat and you stop at various points along the way for snorkeling, sight-seeing, photo taking, etc. They even provide lunch at one of the stops. After I do that, my time in Phuket is done. I am waking up EARLY Monday morning and heading to Koh Lanta. Another island in the Adaman Sea, this one apparently has what I'm looking for.

Headed back towards my hotel, "The Hotel Mermaid at Crystal Beach" and stopped at a street vendor for some dinner. Ordered pork (she made it with shrimp by mistake) with garlic and peppers over rice and it was great. I was happy to be eating cheap again after my last 2 Italian dinners.

Stopped in a bar playing Springsteen on the juke box and had a beer. Got back to the hotel at midnight and thought about my plans. Do I change hotels for 2 more nights or stay here? Do I need a pool if I can walk across the street and go in the ocean? All these thoughts will be pondered and discussed with myself in the morning. For now, I'm too tired to think.

Day 19 - Thursday, March 3 - Chiang Mai

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ZACH AND JOY!

9AM:
Got back from travel agent. The flight I want to take only operates on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the only options today are with connections through Bangkok and they get into Phuket too late. I'm sticking around Chiang Mai one more day and booked my flight to Phuket for tomorrow at 11:15AM. Had breakfast at Libra and watched a group that got back from the 3-day trek yesterday say their good byes as they each moved on with their respective travels. Some were off to Pai and then into Laos, others to Burma, and one girl was leaving for Australia for 6 months. The hugs, kisses, exchange of e-mails, and even a tear from one girls eye made me think how "normal" by goodbye with Unai and Eider was yesterday. Met a girl from Canada and she too was hanging around CM one more day awaiting her visa for Laos to come back.

She's going to spend most of her day getting massaged, answering e-mails, and internetting. I will do some of the same and will probably have to dedicate a good hour to post some photos. I dislike PC and I crave for iPhoto.

12:00PM
I just left an internet "place" (it wasn't a cafe) after unsuccessfully uploading photos. Their connection kept messing up and I got frustrated. On my way out I saw a guy with a great 17" Powerbook. He told me he learned his lesson last time he traveled and takes it with him everywhere now. He laughed at me for trying to upload photos on Snapfish using the Thai PC's. I'm now going for a walk around parts of the city I have neglected to see and find a faster connection speed. Remember, high speed to one, is not high speed to another.

1:30PM
I spent another hour at an internet place (this one also wasn't a cafe) but the connection speed was faster so I was able to do the photos. I'm now going to wander some more. I'm going to head back towards Libra as there was this little massage place that was advertising Herbal Sauna's. I need to see what that's all about. It sounds great.

8:00PM

I walked some more and tried to get lost in the tiny little alleys and soi's (little streets) of Chiang Mai. I think I know my way around pretty well now as I couldn't seem to get lost. Found the massage place and gave it a shot. I told him I wanted an Herbal Steam and an "oil massage". They led me back to the showers and told me I should steam for an hour first. AN HOUR STEAM? Well, there were all these instructions on "how to herbal steam" and I followed them exactly. I showered first and they gave me a little loin cloth to wrap around. I then was placed in a little individual sauna that was 3.5' x 3.5'. When seated, I couldn't raise my arms to the side and extend them fully (remember, your wing span is roughly the same length as your height) and there was about 3.5' from my head to the wall in front of me which had the door out. They recommend staying in for 15 minutes, then coming out, having some of this tea blend they make, and then another 15 minutes in. After the second 15 minutes, I got out, had my tea and a lady was waiting for me. She proceeded to rub this play-dough like mixture all over my body. I think she said it was a blend of oats, honey, almond and something else. Once I was all rubbed down, she sent me back inside. As the heat rose above the top of the thermometer (125 degrees fahreneit), I stayed in for another 25 minutes breathing in all these great herbs and letting the play-dough moisturize my skin. At this point, I think I was high on heat. I felt great. After finishing my hour herbal steam, I had some more hot tea (they say it's NOT GOOD to drink cold beverages when you get out of a hot sauna) and I showered again. I was led to the massage room where I proceeded to get the worst "oil massage" I've ever had. I was so relaxed that I didn't mind but this lady might as well have left me there alone and let me imagine getting a good massage at Burke Williams. Aftet the hour, I was served more tea and there was more oil on me than in the bottle. I started to wipe it off and she told me to leave it and let it soak into my skin. There was no way I could let all this oil stay on me so when she left, I wiped some of it off and got dressed. I left feeling very relaxed, very herbed, and my skin was glowing. Good thing the sun wasn't out as I don't think this oil had any sunscreen in it rather I believe it to have the same effect that baby oil would have on a nice sunny day.

I then proceeded to find a barber shop with a buzzer as my goate was getting a little long and it needed trimming. One place wanted 80 baht. I thought that was a bit high considering I could have taken the buzzer and do it myself in 8 seconds. I finally found a nice lady who wanted 40 and I agreed. I am now nicely groomed for my trip down south.

Back at Libra, I found Rooney conducting his pre-trek meeting to a group of 9 youngens who were leaving in the AM. I contemplated staying and joining them but they aren't so lucky. Dropped my pack off, and headed to find some dinner.

10:30PM

Found a different Italian Restaurant from last night and treated myself to a Caprese Salad and some Tagliatelle Bolognese and it was even tastier than last night. I then did the unthinkable - I walked throught the night maket one last time and headed over to the river to hear some music. It was still a little early so I walked back over the bridge and listened to some music on the main road. It wasn't bad. A little classic rock was on tonights set list. I am now back at Libra, going to pack my stuff again and this time, I'm really heading down South in the AM. My plans have changed yet again so I may only be in Phuket for 2 days or so before venturing on to Koh Lanta via Phi Phi for a day. I'm sure you'll all be the second to know once I decide.

PHOTOS #2

Ok, here's the next set and may even be the last after what I had to go through to upload these:

Click the link below and it will take you there. Who know's, it may even be the same link as before. It would make sense if it was.

Enjoy!

MAH

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=95221109834973252/l=43294427/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Day 18 - Wednesday, March 2 - Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai

Day 18?

How can I have been here for 18 days already? 6 weeks is not nearly enough. 6 MONTHS is barely enough but there is always next time to get to parts missed this time.

Was up a lot of the night coughing but I'm feeling much better. This will be the last you hear of my illnesses - assume I'm a little better each day and it's boring to talk about.

Got out of bed at 6:30A to get ready for my day trip. The mini-bus picked me up at 7:30A, we made a few stops to pick up the other people signed up for the trip, and headed north towards Chiang Mai. I made immediate friends with Unai and Eider and we talked most of the way. They are 24 and 25 respectively, and just finished living in Australia for a year and are heading home to Spain after a brief 2 weeks in Thailand. When they got to Australia 11 months ago, they spoke NO english whatsoever. After hello, goodbye, and Bush, they were lost. It's amazing how great their English is after a year.

Our first stop was an hour later at a hot spring. Pretty thrilling. The big gimmick here were the local ladies walking around selling chicken eggs and quail eggs so you can lower them in a little basket and cook them. After your eggs are done, you can take them over to the little "outdoor cafe" and enjoy them with some coffee or tea. We were only there for about 20 minutes. After another 2.5 hours of driving, we arrived at some Pagoda Temple that after a photo or 2, I was readyto move on. We did just that. The next stop was the Golden Triangle. After driving through Chiang Rai City, we arrived at the "Triangle". We boarded a long tailboat and drove around the Mekong River for about 35 minutes. It was a cool ride and we got off at a little village in Laos (no visa needed) and we looked around. After another short boat ride, we landed back on the Thailand side of the river and proceeded to some fancy tourist buffet restaurant for lunch. Lunch was decent but nothing to write home about.

http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/northern_thailand/golden_triangle/

We then headed to Mai Sae. This was the whole reason for me coming on this day trip. This is a border town but not into Laos like I had thought, but rather into Burma. The group wandered around this border town market where Jade was the big selling point as most of it is imported from Burma and a lot of the typical crap I have grown to love and hate for the past 2+ weeks.

At this point, I was on my own to cross the border into Burma and deal with my visa issue. I was led, by my tour guide, Luen, down a long sidewalk lined with police and government officials, to a big gate that said, "IMMIGRATION". She then left me and told me she would see me back at the bus at the time we were reconvening. For some reason, the movie "White Nights" popped into my head. If you haven't seen it, forget it. Not worth the explanation. I was following Luen's directions as to what to say and what to do at each window and each step, however, I still felt as if I was doing something illegal. I walked down a path and handed my passport over to a government official who was whistling "Yankee Doodle". Something about that was comforting. He had me fill out departure paperwork and stamped my passport that I had left Thailand. A few feet further, I had to walk through customs having nothing to declare so they waved me through and I walked further. I was now in the twighlight zone. I was not checked into Thailand but I wasn't in Burma either. At this point, if I was gunned down and never heard from again, there would be no documentation of me being anywhere in the world. I walked over a bridge and the atmosphere changed dramatically. It seemed much poorer and I was approached by begging parents and their children with these beautiful yet desperate faces. I walked through yet another gate into a little office and was told to sit down. The Burmese Official looked over my passport and said. "five dollars please". That is the cost of a day visa into Burma. Being prepared, I took out my $5 and handed it over. He looked, and handed it back to me. It was an old $5, a bit worn, and he didn't like it. Hoping he had change, but if he didn't, oh well, I handed ove a $10. It's a good thing I hadn't changed all my US dollars into Baht. He didn't like the $10 either. I wanted to say, "hey dude, it's all money and it's all the same no matter how pretty it looks", but I needed this guy a lot more than he needed me at this point in time. Finally, my last resort, the fresh new "colored" $20. He liked that, opened his drawrer and gave me 3 $5's and said, "shopping"? I said, "no shopping". He said, "no shopping, just need a stamp", and I replied, "yes". He looked at me, winked and stamped my passport. I had just entered Burma. He then stamped it announcing to all who looked at my passport that I had exited Burma. He looked at me and said, "now go back to Thailand". So back across the bridge, back through the Twilight Zone, through customs, and through Immigration in Thailand and I got another stamp as I entered Thailand and a new 30 day visa that expires on March 31. I am now legally in Thailand again and wont have to pay a fine for staying longer than allowed.

Met back up again with Unai and Eider and they welcomed be back to Thailand. They were the ones worried that I was going to be gunned down as I was walking the bridge. Back on the bus, and we headed to 2 Hill Tribe Villages. I have some great photos that I will upload in a few days to share. These villages, yet rely on tourism as a source of income, are so primitive and crazy. Only photos can tell the real story.

After the 2nd village, we got back on the mini-bus and began our 3 hour drive back to Chiang Mai. Everyone was exhausted and we weren't looking forward to the drive. I'm glad I did the trip though, not only for the visa, but I now realized I didn't need to take a side trip for a few days up to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle - a day trip is plenty. We dropped Unai and Eider at the Night Market so they could grab some dinner before boarding their overnight train to Ayuthaya. The goodbyes after spending just 12 hours together were very touching. Telling me to come to Spain to visit and that they will call if they ever come to the states, the hugs and kisses, one would think we just traveled the world together.

Got back to Libra, dropped my things, and headed to a travel "agent" to see about my flight to Phuket tomorrow. Maybe I should have done this prior to 12 hours before wanting to depart. I was told I needed to wait til 8:30AM to book anything and there is a non-stop from Chiang Mai to Phuket at 11:30A. Perfect timing. Now he just has to get me on the plane and get me the fare he "quoted". For some reason, I don't think that fare is going to be available, but only time will tell.

Got some dinner at "Ristorante Pizzaria da Roberto" (penne in a meat sauce) and it was nice. Refreshing to eat some Italian for a change.

Got back to Libra, packed my things in hopes that I am actually going to get out tomorrow and realized something.....

NO WONDER I AM TIRED.......I'VE BEEN TO 3 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES TODAY......THAILAND, LAOS, and BURMA!

Day 17 - Tuesday, March 1 - Pai / Chiang Mai

It's great how well I know my body and it's recovery process so well after 36 years. I went to bed with a fever, the aches and pains were at their worst they were all day, and my head felt like a ton of bricks. At about 3AM, I woke up in a pool of sweat, shivering from the cold mountain air meeting said sweat, and the aches and pains GONE.

I changed clothes and went back to bed.

Woke up at about 7:30 and showered so I could return the bike, have breakfast, and catch the bus back to Chiang Mai. Pai is great and one could hang out here for weeks but I must move on. With the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, it really is a great resting place in the mountains that is a must visit on your next visit to Thailand.

Although not 100%, I'm feeling much better and know it will be a few days more until whatever alien has come to live in my body moves on to their next victim. I have a few days of transition until I hit the beaches so I'll be taking it easy.

The bus ride was 3.5 hours and I landed back at Libra with Boo Boo cheering up and down when I got off the bus. She had they key to Room 103, my room of choice, waiting for me and I threw my bags down, popped some more pills that I bought at the pharmacy in Pai (the Tinglish speaking woman behind the counter said they were like Advil although I'm not sure she knew what Advil was), took a swig of some liquid stuff (she said it was like Robitussin) and headed out to take a stroll.

Stumbled across what else, 36,000 Thai Massage houses and being that I haven't had a foot massage in over 2 days, thought it was time. I spluged, I got an hour foot massage followed by an hour Thai Massage. Although not terrible, my thoughts were correct - I don't really like Thai Massages. I much prefer a Burke Williams massage or what I think they refer to here as an "oil massage". I'll have to try one on Thursday as tomorrow I'm on a day trip up to Chiang Rai, the Golden Triangle, and to make a quick "border run" to Laos (pronounced LAO). A "border run" is what they call it when you cross the border for a minute or 2 just to come back into the country you just left. The reason for such an antic is this: when you enter Thailand without a Visa, you are automatically given a 30 day tourist visa. After the 30 days, you are fined 200 baht per day until you leave. This way, I can get a new 30 day visa when I re-enter Thailand from Laos tomorrow. If I had read a little more before coming to Thailand, I would have known this and would have gotten a 60 day visa from the Thai Embassy in the US prior to leaving. As I said earlier, each day is an adventure and a learning experience.

After leaving the massage, I walked a few blocks further and saw a travel agency that was affiliated with STA (Student Travel), the agency I bought my plane ticket through. I sat down with a very nice agent and she was able to change my return date back to LA.

RELAX P, it's just a few extra days.

I now depart Bangkok at 11:50PM on Sunday, March 27th. I have a layover in Tokyo and then arrive back in LA at 11AM, Monday, March 28th. I would have extended even longer but I have an appointment with my "tax guy" on Tuesday and I think it's going to be nearly impossible to reschedule at such a late date and am not in the mood to file an extension. As a model citizen of the US, I will come back and file my taxes on time.

I walked around a little bit more, avoided the night market as I was in no mood for their antics, and stumbled across a little "store" that I was contemplating buying some stuff at and shipping home last week but decided against it due to the shipping rates. Well, here I was back there again and this time, I caved. As she was writing me up, she said,

"just down soi (street), good doctor, you go and I wait for you, you no sleep tonight if you cough cough"

So I walked down the street to the doctors office at the recommendation of this nice lady. This doctor's office was certainly not like one I have ever been to, that's for sure. HOWEVER, he was GREAT! I walked in, gave them my name, waited among a lot of sick and dirty children and their parents and they called me about 20 minutes later. By the way, when I say "dirty", I am just as dirty as they are to set the record straight. He spent more time with me than most of my doctors in LA who then go ahead and charge my insurance company $1000. He actually seemed to care that I wasn't feeling well and what a great doctor to keep his office open until 9PM. No appointments necessary - just walk right in and be seen.

He even confirmed what my surgeon said about my hernia....he told me all about it....and then proceeded to tell me I had "bronchitis" which I pretty much knew but now it was confirmed by a doctor.

Of course, for a fleeting moment, it crossed my mind if Motion Picture (my health insurance) would reimburse me for any of this but what the hell. I have 3 more weeks here and need to make sure I get well.

After the doctor saw me, the nurse dispensed all the medication right there. There were no prescriptions, no pharmacies, and no hassle. She gave me the drugs, told me how and when to take them and gave me a bill. "560 baht", she said.

The office visit was 100 baht ($2.63) and all the medications he prescribed came to 460 baht ($12.10). So, for a whopping $14.73, I walked out with an office visit, an antibiotic, and 3 other drugs (a decongestant, a cough suppressant, and a something else) and I'm thinking of importing him to LA and making him my primary physician!!!! I wonder if he'll survive the journey in the container!?

I am now back at Libra and you are getting this blog entry earlier than usual because it's 8:45PM, and I'm heading to my room and will hopefully get a good nights rest.

P.S. Click on the link below to check out the weather in Chiang Mai:

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/THXX0003_f.html

Day 16 - Monday, February 28 - Pai

I think I am now an official rooster of Pai. I wake up before they do!

Hung around, almost finished my book, and realized I feel like shit!

I have a bruised ankle, a bump on my knee and my cold sucks. Aside from that, everything's great! Today is my last day in Pai - taking it easy.

Got out at 9A and brought my bike to be swapped out. Booked a bus for tomorrow back to Chiang Mai and went for a drive. Drove for a few hours through back streets I hadn't seen yesterday. Came across a great "resort" here in Pai that I will definitely stay at next time I'm here. Will there be a next time? The rooms are 2700 baht so pretty great deal for a "resort".

Drove more and ended up at the Pai Swimming Pool. Went for a swim, sat out on a bamboo mat and almost finished my book. That's going to be today's theme - finish the damn book already!

Got back to town at 2:30P and had lunch at the Curry Shack. Went back to the Blue House and hung out with the gang. I'm not doing much else here in Pai - just want to take it easy and nurse my injuries - I bet Tiger Balm will be good for all of them! Went inside my room at about 3P, read for 10 minutes or so, and woke up at 5:40P.

As I was lying in bed, I was trying to figure out what's wrong with me. I know it's not Typhoid as I've been vaccinated, the same goes for Hepatitis, and I've been taking my Malaria pills so I think I'm safe on that front. It's not Measles or the Mumps. I guess it's either Scarlett Fever or your typical chest cold / flu.

I can't tell if the aches are from the cold or from my spill yesterday. I may have just been running around so much and my body is worn down. The next few days are pretty relaxing and then it's off to island hop in the south so I'll just let nature take it's course. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine.

Read and slept - read and slept - read and slept - I definitely have a fever that will probably break sometime during the night. Either that, or I'll be dead and I doubt it has progressed that far.

Good night.

Day 15 - Sunday, February 27 - Pai

As I type this, millions of households in the world are watching the Oscars, Pilar is hob-nobbing, and the only thing Oscar in Pai is the little baby pig who lives at the neighboring guesthouse.

WOW, someone needs to teach the Thai roosters that their job is to wait til the sun rises before they start their bantor. I have never heard so many animals making their noises so early. I was afraid to look at my watch. I listened carefully. I heard roosters, howling dogs, meowing cats, all in unison as if there was some conductor cuing them. As soon as it was quiet, another rooster would do it's thing and the rest would follow.

I dozed on and off hoping a few hours would pass - what seemed like an hour later but I knew it was only minutes, I started hearing voices. Thai voices asking me if I needed a tuk tuk, others asking me if I wanted to buy a watch or sunglasses. I thought I was hallucinating.

At one point, I closed my eyes and thought I heard yet something else.....it wasn't an animal at all, and it certainly wasn't Thai - it was my mom in her best Boca accent telling me to take care of my scratchy throat and be careful on the motorcycle. Up until now I've only been hearing the accents of the Thai, German, Dutch, Israeli, Australian, English and basically every other spanning the globe, but I have yet to encounter a BOCA accent!

Should I tell her that I declined the helmet? I figured I would wait until I got back safe and sound to tell her that part. What about this cold I feel coming on that will soon drop into my chest and threaten me with Asthmatic Bronchitis all the way around the globe. Once again, this will wait.

I closed my eyes and so many thoughts were racing through my head.....was it the malaria pills playing tricks on me......was it something I ate last night that was making me hallucinate.....I finally figured it was just me, high on life, and all these thoughts were fun to ponder for a second each......

When in Thailand, get a Tatoo?

I wish all these people reading this blog could see me face up, staring at the ceiling in my Thailand cell hoping this one hovering mosquito doesn't find a place to rest on my leg and take a bite - but after all, what are the chanches he is a malaria carrying one

Was I going to kill myself on the motorcycle today?

Should I wake up and write some post cards as I haven't sent even ONE yet.

Ok, I woke up! It was now 5:45A. I got up, took a walk, and watched this tiny sleepy town wake up. It was now 7:00A and I stopped for some breakfast. I opted for an american breakfast today and had a tomato and onion omlette with some toast. It was nice for a change - no noodles or rice for breakfast.

I walked over to the "Blue House" to see if they had a room. The only room they had was with 2 beds and I wanted 1. I didn't need to spend an extra 100 baht for a bed I wasn't going to use and besides, who wants to sleep on a twin bed. She told me to come back at noon and she would have something for me.

I went back to Charlie's House, showered, packed my things, didn't look back twice after I paid the bill and dropped them off in the storage closet at the Blue House and walked over to pick up my motorcycle. He taught me how to ride it. It's sort of a semi-automaitc motorcycle - I'm sure I'll be fine. I rode around a bit, and checked back with the "Blue House". My room was ready. I threw my bags in, paid for the night and got on the bike and headed towards the waterfall. This place is amazing. The scenery, although now sometimes a bit brown rather the lush green it is during rainy season, was spectacular.

I wish I hired a viedeographer to follow me around and capture every second on film.

If I could have stopped every 20 feet to photograph it, I would have. Fields upon fields, battered huts upon streams and rivers, animals galour, and villagers standing on the roadside waiting for a tourist on a motorbike to pass through and throw them a cigarette. They all know the universal motion to ask for a cigarette - after all, it's not a hard one.

I arrived at the waterfalls after about 20 minutes and found what else, a waterfall. Certainly not Niagara, but it was water flowing down rocks, kids playing, at it was certainly enough to be categorized as a waterfall. While there, I met Caroline, 22, from Australia and Nicky, 25, from South Africa now living in London. We talked and we all left the waterfall for another ride through the country, this time to the hot springs. Only about 3 minutes into the ride, I realized that I was driving on the wrong side of the road, but only with the help of 2 kids who were driving straight towards me.

P.S. Have I mentioned that they drive on the LEFT side of the street in Thailand?

I managed to slow down just enough, while I was hitting the gas and pulling the break at the same time, causing a massive skid, sending me sliding across the road and smashing into the ground - luckily, I wasn't goint fast enough to die!

The kids were so kind. They were more worried about me - the dumb farang who was driving on the wrong side of the road than anything else. I got up, brushed off the dirt, made sure there was no blood and got back on. Caroline and Nicky laughed and I felt like a moron. Back on the bike, I noticed the broken side mirror but hadn't realized the swelling in my ankle until much later.

We were now on our way to the hot spings - about 12km away. Once again, passing tiny littel villages, tiny huts, roadside drink stands, and some small forest fires burning - tis the season. We arrived at the hot springs, parked our bikes, and walked the rest of the way. At one point, we had to cross the small babbling brook and I slipped on the rock and fell in......THE WATER WAS HOT! Welcome to the hot springs. It felt good as I waded in the hot water for a minute or so. We walked further up the hill and found the end of the hot springs.....some might call it the source. I had no idea what the source was so thinking that it was the same water as what I had waded through earlier, I stepped in and, little did I know, was stepping into 80 degree CELCIUS water.....I have no idea what that is in fahrenheit but it's somewhere around boiling and fucking boiling. I had stepped into BOILING WATER and nearly singed my feet! Once again, the girls laughed and we made our way down to the base, back to our bikes after stopping for a water break. I didnt' realize but the gimmick here is that they sell raw eggs that you can hard boil in the water. If I had known that before stepping in the source, I probably wouldn't have.

We ventured on to the Pai Canyon. While not as big as the Grand Canyon, it was a pretty cool hike to what looked like a mini-grand-canyon - VERY MINI - about 1/10000th the size. This is where we met Eddie, a German, and Roy, and Israeli. They were both traveling alone until they met in Koh Phang Ngan and have been traveling together since. We were now a 5-some: An American, a German, an Israeli, a South African, and an Australian. We had a lot of fun together exploring the canyon and went separate ways. We headed back to town, and they to the hot springs.

Once back in town, the food market was underway and we stopped for a Rotee. I had banana, chocolate, and raisins from a cart that claimed to have the best Rotee in Thailand! It was pretty damn good!

We then took a drive so they could show me the place they were staying, "The Sun Hut". This place was COOL! I realized I messed up again but I wasn' moving for one or 2 nights. This place was 2 minutes by bike outside of town, over a bridge and in the "jungle". Many small bungalows and very secluded and very cool. I advice anyone who comes to Pai to stay at "The Sun Hut" or anywhere just slightly away from the center of the city.

We said goodbye and made plans to go to BeBop for dinner.

I drove my bike away and ran into Herrell and Amy, a couple I had met at Libra before I left. Chatted with them a bit and went back to the "Blue House" to shower and get ready. When I arrived at Blue, the resident "gang" was hanging out. I'm pretty sure the gang consists of 2 Australian guys, a British guy, and an Bristish woman who seem to have been staying at Blue for quite some time and don't seem to move far from the garden or the porches of their rooms very often. It seems to me that they came to Pai for a little relaxation, and never left and have formed this litle family. They gave me a large CHANG BEER and we talked for a bit.

Have I mentioned that beer in Thailand is 6.4% alcohol. Two large Chang's and I'm feeling it. I laready had one for the evening.

I showered and hopped on my bike, in the dark, to find BeBop. This bike thing is great. Riding the bike, with a large Chang in me, had me tempted to stop in the local tattoo parlour and get some local art. For some reason, I decided not to.

Met the girls at BeBop only to find that they don't serve dinner and the music scene doesn't get going until 10, the earliest. We drove a bit up the road and ended up at this 69 baht buffet. It was really good. They advertised themselves as a Fondue place but it wasn't really fondue. It was a buffet of cold salads along with a vast amounts of raw meat and fish that you cook on these cool grills they bring to the table. Dinner was great. The girls didn't want to go to BeBop any longer so we paid the bill and parted ways. I doubt I will run into them again - they are heading in the opposite direction.

I went to BeBop for about 20 minutes and made my way back to the Blue House. All my landmarks were dark, it was COLD, I was nicely buzzed on 3.5 large Chang Beers, and I was LOST. How could I be lost in a town that has 4 or 5 roads? How could I not even see the 7-11 sign. Where the hell was I? After coming across a bridge, I realized where I was and fixed my mistake and made my way back. A 3-4 minute ride on the bike took about 15 but I made it home safely.

Today was a spectacular day - not that they all aren't!

This chest cold is really starting to fester and I feel sorry for the room next to mine that's going to hear me coughing it up all night.

Day 14 - Saturday, February 26 - Travel to Pai

Woke up and packed my things - paid my bill, said my goodbyes to Libra (for now) and waited for the mini-bus to Pai.

Pai - population 3000 - pronounced like the English word "bye", not "pie". "Attracted by easy living and a small live music scene, Pai nowadays also features a sizeable collection of long-tern visitors - mostly farang and Japanese - who use the town as a place to chill out betwen excursions elsewhere in Asia".

Pulling away from Libra and Chiang Mai was like pulling away from camp after 8 great weeks. In just one short week, Chiang Mai became a temporary home. With friendly people, a great scene on the river, and the "big city but at the same time small town feel", it has been a remarkable time.

While only 134km from Chiang Mai, it takes about 3 hours due to the steep and winding road. Great views and scenery the entire way. While sometimes a bit vomitatious, beautiful nonetheless.

Near the midway point, the driver explained to us that we were going to pull off the main road and get off the bus for a toilet / snack break and wait for another bus to take us the rest of the way. Apparently, this was the norm and it just wasn't told to us prior. No big deal. As we pulled off the main road and got off the bus, we clearly were not in Kansas any more. There was a little hut on the side of the road with an old man selling drinks and some snacks. In order to make your way to the counter, you had to watch your step as to not get in the way of any chickens, pig, or a few other unidentifiable animals.

It was at this point that I wasn't sure if I was on my way to Pai or if I looked around hard enough, I would spot Jack Colton and Joan Wilder heading to Cartegena with a drug lord following them.

I got a cup of tea as I was feeling a scratchy throat, and sat with a young couple from Switzerland and made some small talk.

Sure enough, the next bus arrived and we boarded. We drove through more winding roads up and down again and again. As we made our final descent, we entered the town of Pai. This place is TINY. It looks like an old Ghost Town but inhabited rather than abandoned.

As the mini-bus was driving down the main road, who did I spot sitting at an outdoor restaurant.....Francis and Marie. I guess that answers the question in yesterdays entry. It has only been 3 days and yet I've run into them already. The bus let us off in the center of town and I walked over to say hello. We chatted for a bit and I walked across the street to see if Charlie's House had any rooms. One left. I'll take it.

It seemed to be very basic but with a HOT shower and toilet in the room, along with a fan (everyone says you don't need Air Con in the mountains)all for 200 baht a night, how could I pass it up.

Put my things down and joined Francis and Marie for a drink. After about 30 minutes, we parted ways yet again and joked about running into them in the south in a few weeks.

I walked around and realized that Pai only has about 4 streets and something was missing. Somethng I had grown to love and hate at the same time for the past 2 weeks. No tuk tuk's, no taxis, and not many cars either. Everyone was walking or driving motorbikes (motorcycles) or regular bicycles. Not many beach cruisers here like you see in Santa Monica or Venice. These bicycles were salvaged from the cold war and brought to Pai as the basic mode of transport. I found the place that rents the motorcycles and asked it they had any mopeds. Just motorcycles. I guess I was going to learn how to ride a motorcycle in the northern parts of Thailand if it was the last thing I did. I made all the plans for renting the bike for tomorrow. It cost 180 baht including all the insurance. The only insurance it doesn't cover is the cost of flying you home to the states in a coffin after trying to navigate the winding roads outside the town. These roads were a must if you wanted to see the waterfalls, hot springs, temples, or anything aside from 4 or 5 streets of the town.

I had some lunch at the restaurant on the corner (the name escapes me).

I walked around some more and ventured down a litle alley (these are where you find the hidden treaures in Thailand cities / towns) and stumbled across "Ice House Thai Massage by Auntie U-Rai." This was quite different from the air conditioned storefront I went to in Bangkok. It was an open air bamboo hut with a few thin mattreses laid out. I explained I was interested in a foot massage and she led me over to a bench where she proceeded to clean my feet with a little soap and water using a little sponge that I'm sure was passed down to Auntie U-Rai by her own Auntie U-Mai who passed away in 1960. After feet were clean, or as clean as they can be, she led me to one of the mattresses and proceeded to work on my feet. At the end of the hour, both legs from knees down were massaged and rubbed and re-energized. I paid my 150 baht and ventured on.

By this point, the faces around me were all familiar. I had walked past the same locals as well as tourists multiple times. I had now seen everyone I was on the mini-bus with at least 2x with the exception of 2 german girls who I was sure were in their guesthouses resting and vomiting from the ride up here. They were both a nice shade of green when we finally arrived.

As I made my way back to Charlies House, I wandered across a market that had since set up on the main road of town. One small chicken skewer later and I arrived back at my room. I plopped down on the bed and realized someting - this room was no more than a painted (about 35 years ago) cinder block room with a few hand made thai curtains and blood stained walls from squashed mosquitos. It may be "secure" but not so sure it's "clean". Who writes for Lonely Planet anyway? I'm going to make that my mission to find out when I get back. While livable, I made the decision to stay the night and find a better place in the AM. Francis and Marie liked their place, "The Blue House", so I'll check to see if they have any rooms tomorrow.

I had all intentions of showering and heading to BeBop Cafe to get a few drinks and hear some music but decided to rest and read a little first. HA! I woke up at midnight and properly tucked myself in.

Day 13 - Friday, February 25 - Chiang Mai

As with my last day in Bangkok, my last day in Chiang Mai was very relaxing and mellow. Can't always be on the go.

Woke and hung out at Libra for a few hours. Needed to do a little shopping and send a box from Chiang Mai. Didn't buy that much but saw some great things that would go nicely in my sea container for my new import business.

Didn't do much - just walked a bit and had lunch at the noodle shop I first ate at when I got here. This time, I had Chicken Curry. Excellent!

Went to Smile Guesthouse to see if Adam and Emma had arrived back from Pai. I found them lounging at the pool and also having a lazy day. We hung out, they gave me some tips on Pai and made plans to meet for dinner. After dinner, Adam and I are going to Thai Boxing and Emma is hitting the Night Bazaar (Market) one last time.

Gathered all my purchases, bought a box and some shipping materials and went to Libra to pack them up. Got a Tuk Tuk to take me to UPS.

"WHAT"?, I said to the Tinglish speaking UPS agent. "5900 baht to ship this to the USA?". I went across the street to DHL. They wanted 6200. Shit, I don't want to spend over $160US to ship this stuff home. The box only weighed 9KG. I have no idea what that is in pounds but it wasn't that heavy. SHIT, I wish I could just put this box in my container.

I got another Tuk Tuk to the shipping place I found earlier in the day. I settled on sending it ECONOMY THAI POST for a little less. It should arrive in LA in about 3-4 weeks! I hope it gets there - what a waste if it doesn't.

Back to Libra for a quick shower. Went to meet Adam and Emma and walked over the river to "The Riverside Restaurant". Had a great dinner on the river and talked for hours. Adam and I decided to bail on Boxing - both of us weren't in the mood any longer.

On the way back, we walked through the Night Market, the Chinese Market, and stopped for my last Chocolate and Banana Rotee. HEAVEN!

We then stopped at a few bars with live music and sat, enjoyed a few songs at half a dozen of them and slowly made our way back to the point where they arrive at Smile and I head back to Libra.

We said goodnight, goodbye, and happy trails and parted ways. I made my walk back to Libra (I wish Libra was just a little closer - although not far, there are great guesthouses nearer to Taipie Gate - the center of the city)

Will I ever see Adam and Emma again? What about Francis and Marie? Will I ever visit Collin and Linda's 20 acre spread outside Vancouver? All these people will always be remembered as part of my Thailand adventure but that's probably about it. We all swap e-mail addresses so we can e-mail photos when we return to our respective countries but how much correspondence will we have beyond that? All these questions and more will be answered on the next episode of.....life.

Sleeeeeeeep.

PHOTOS

Ok, so I figured out how to do this photo thing. Remember, up until now, I was MAC and MAC only and I know iPhoto and iPhoto only (I should have brought my laptop - I see lots of travelers with them and I dont' think it would be an inconvenience at all - oh well).

I brought my memory sticks from my camera to a photo shop and they transferred them to CD. I then uploaded them to Snapfish for all of you to see.

I have over 300 digital photos so far (and about 130 from my 35 mm camera which haven't been developd yet) so I created an album with just some selects. I didn't want to bore you with 20 photos from animals at the zoo and 36 photos of sighseeing on the canal tour, etc. You can get the picture from the 40 or so I selected.

For those who have never done this before......

You should be able to click on the link below. If you can't, cut and paste the link below into your browser. If you don't have a snapfish account, you may have to set one up. I think you may be able to view without one but I'm not sure. The account set up is SIMPLE. Enter your e-mail address, a password and a few other vital stats and you have an account. You don't need to enter a credit card or anything that may scare you. Obviously, these instructions are for the likes of ummmmmmm, my MOM! (I hope you can figure this out)

Enjoy!

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=162241109308667113/l=42916095/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Day 12 - Thursday, February 24 - Chiang Mai

Woke up and had breakfast with Francis and Marie from the trek. Just had a simple meal at Libra. Hung around assessing my sore muscles and wondered if I should hire a driver for the day. Not really sure my legs are going to work.

They left for Laos and I headed to the main road to catch a mini-bus to the Temple on the Mountain. I had no idea it took so long to get there (I think over 30 minutes) so when I got there, I felt I needed to stay longer than my usual 6 minutes per temple. Walked around, took some photos, and left. Hopped in a "taxi" and headed down the mountain back to Chiang Mai.

"TAXI" is a loose term here. A Taxi is a red (has to be red) pick-up truck with bench seating in the back. If a "taxi" already has passengers, you can flag them down, ask the driver if he's going near your destination and you can hop in. You wont end up at your exact point of interest, but you'll be fairly close. Sometimes, you do end up in a completely different place you had intended, but that's part of the fun.

One of the guys in the taxi was heading to the Chiang Mai Zoo which was half way down the mountain. I hopped out also. Why not check out the caged animals of Chiang Mai. It was a prety nice zoo but the walking was intense. They had golf carts for rent, but I didn't think it would be so bad. I felt like I was back on the trek again.....big hills, and big climbs to see some of the parts of the zoo. It was so hot, that most of the animals were sleeping. No wonder admission is cheaper during the day and more expensive at twighlight. I think the animals wake up when it cools down.

I paid another 100 baht to see the new GIANT PANDA exhibit. It was inside this arctic feeling atmosphere with misters all over the place to fool the pandas into thinking they are back home. I only saw 2 giant SLEEPING pandas. I guess they don't wake up until later in the day also. Saw lions, tigers, bears, ostrich, giraffe, zebra, lots of exotic birds, emu, sloths, etc etc etc.

Was at the zoo for a few hours and flagged down another cab to head back to Chiang Mai.

I got back and headed to the river for a drink at The Brasserie. It was cooling down a bit, and the river was beautiful. Had a drink and walked around that part of town a bit, picking up some souvenirs along the way.

Tomorrow, I'm going to pack a little box and send it home so I'm not schlepping around excess baggage - I already have enough of that!

Got back to Libra for a plop on the bed for about an hour and headed out again. Back to the night market for some dinner and some nearby local bars with music.

Until now, today was just picking at street vendors carts and I was pretty hungry - not to mention THIRSTY. Not sure how one is to stay hydrated here without an IV drip. The second you drink a bottle of water, you sweat it out. Especially walking all day and carrying a day pack (althoug not heavy, certainly causes back sweat).

Had dinner at JERUSALEM FALAFEL - it was nice to eat something a little different for a change. It was pretty tasty. I popped in and out of a few bars. Walked through the night market on my way back to Libra and was annoyed at the constant tugging on my shirt and being asked if I needed a Tuk Tuk.

Today was mellow. Got back to Libra at about 1AM and slept.

Days 9-11 - Monday, February 21 - Wednesday, February 23 - TREK

This next entry covers the 3 days of my trek to the Hill Tribes and mountains/jungles of Northern Thailand. Sorry if it's long. Print and read at your leisure but this could quite possibly be one of the greatest life experiences to date. I won't be able to do it justice but I'll try.

Taken from "The Beach":

"There's this saying: In an all-blue world, color doesn't exist. It makes a lot of sense to me. If something seems strange, you question it, but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison, then nothing seems strange"

trek ( P ) Pronunciation Key (trk)
intr.v. trekked, trek·king, treks
To make a slow or arduous journey. To journey on foot, especially to hike through mountainous areas.
n. A journey or leg of a journey, especially when slow or difficult.

Hill Tribes of Thailand: Ethnic minorities living in the mountainous regions of Northern Thailand. Each hill tribe has its own language, customs, mode of dress and spiritual beliefs. Most are of semi-nomadic origin, having migrated to Thailand from Tibet, Myanmar, China, and Laos during the past 200 years, although some have been here much longer. They are "fourth world" people in that they belong to neither the main aligned powers nor to the developing nations. Rather, they have crossed and continue to cross national borders, often fleeing oppression by other cultures, without regard to recent nationhood. Hill Tribes tend to have among the LOWEST standards of living in Thailand.

TREK - DAY 1
woke at 8AM to get ready for the trek. Had to pack the basics in the camouflage pack they handed out at the meeting last night. Not bringing much as I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing the same clothes for the next 3 days. I know the first tribe we are visiting doesn't have showers and not sure about the 2nd. The "shower" in the first tribe is the nearby river and I'm told its too far and too much of a hike to get there just to get clean. Had to get all my stuff out of my room and put it in the "store room" at Libra which is nothing more than an old pantry next to the kitchen which seems like it's a rats den when nobody is around. Had to put all valuables in the "safety deposit box" which is nothing more than a drawer that is locked with a piece of old chewing gum. I hope my "valuables" are safe. Had some breakfast and waited in the lobby area. Everyone slowly came down for our 9AM departure.

Our trek leader was Rooney. He's a Thai "ladyboy" who works at Libra and is hilarious. We all (13 of us plus Rooney) piled in the back of a pickup truck outfitted with 2 benches and got on the way. We drove for about 2.5 hours up and down, in and out of mountains, jungles and national parks to our first stop - The Elephant Camp. We rode Elephants for about an hour and a half and, while not that thrilling, it's someting one must do while trekking in Thailand. I had my own elephant and led the pact. Well, my elephant led and I followed where he went as did the other pachyderms. We rode the giant beasts right into our first village we visited (Rooney didn't ride, he went with the truck to the first tribe). This was the Chiang Dao tribe. When I say village, I am not talking about the village of Hewlett Harbor. The village is a dry dirt road with a bunch of bamboo huts lined on either side and pigs, chickens, roosters, children and others milling about. We were escorted to a little hut where Rooney passed out lunch - a small styrofoam container with some rice they had prepared for us at Libra. After a little stroll around the village, we got back in the truck and proceeded to drive up in the mountains / jungle for about an hour. We were let out and told we needed to trek for about 2 hours. This trek was no leisurely stroll on a path. This was very strenuous and was the easier of the 3 days I was told. The UPhill walks were STEEP and the DOWNhill was even steeper. This was not some National Park where the park rangers erected nice handrails when the path neared a cliff - one little bad footing and you were off the edge into the depths of a Thailand jungle. I was sweating my ass off and somewhat worried that I may pass out, die, or need to smoke signal a helicopter to come get me. Along the way, we passed water buffalo, snakes, and other misc animals. It was pretty wild. My pack sucked - there were clips digging into my back and I knew there were going to be giant welts left on my back. We arrived at a river after about 2 hours 45 minutes with screaming naked kids bathing and playing about. With that, a giant elephant walked through the river with a local tribe member throwing buckets of water on it. I guess even the elephants bathe in the river. We crossed the river and walked up a giant hill to the next village. The village was called LAHU. This village, if possible, seemed to be a little more primitive.

No phone, no lights no motor cars,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As primative as can be.

Once again, all the animals were running about. Dogs were chasing pigs, pigs chasing roosters, and chickens clucking about. Everyopnce in a while, a huge water buffalo of sorts woudl wander in the village and all the dogs, pigs, and cluckers would run towards it and chase it away. This villag has about 200 people living in it - about 20 families.

We put our packs down and enjoyed some beverages that the villagers have all ready to sell to tired, hot, and thirsty tourists. They have to walk 3 hours to the nearest market to buy this stuff to sell to us. They don't have the money to drink any of these luxurious beverages. Chang Beer never tasted so good! We all sat around and talked about how much more difficult the trek was so far from what we had expected. I would venture a guess to say that it's advisable to consult a physician before deciding to go on a trek in the Thai Jungles. It was cooling down a bit and it felt great. The mountains get quite chilly in the AM's and PM's.

We were all filthy but nobody seemed to care. Rooney started cooking us dinner in the bamboo hut next to the sleeping hut. The sleeping hut was about 12 feet wide by 20 feet long. Around the sides, were 13 bamboo mats with some blankets and a pillow on each one. This was going to be our home for the next 12 hours. It started to get dark and the village was pitch black but the kids and animals were still running around. We had 3 lanterns on our picnic table but they had ZERO. Not a candle, a lamp, nor a lightbulb obviously. Most of these peopel have never experienced electricity as most of them never leave the village. We ate dinner by candlelight and all got acquainted and shared our stories of where we are from, careers, etc etc. Dinner was rice, and 3 other dishes, one tofu and beans, one chicken and vegetables and one pork with something else - I can't remember. After dinner, the women and kids of the tribe came around selling local crafts. Remember, even though they don't speak English, everyone knows how to bargain. We all felt bad so we bought little trinkets from the kids.....mostly woven little bracelets or change purses. These were the real deal - "manufactured" right in the village. After we were done with the "night market", we all gathered around a big fire and the kids sang songs and danced about. I can't describe what this was all about. These people have nothing but seemed so happy. Hopefully, I got some great photos.

We all hit the hut at about 10:30P as we were pretty tired.

Trek - Day 2

I woke up at about 8AM and I was the first one up. It was pretty cold so I went outside to see about getting some tea or something. The local tribe cook was already boiling water and preparing our breakfast. I had some tea, found a nice spot behind the hut to brush my teeth and by this point, everyone was slowly getting up. We had breakfast which consisted of toast and hard boiled eggs. I was hoping for something a little more authentic but oh well. We packed our bags, and headed out at about 9:45A. The next 3.5 hours were BRUTAL and I mean BRUTAL. There is no gym workout that can prepare you for this "trek". At one point, the incline was so steep and the path was only about a foot wide. If you fell to the left, you would hit the side of the mountain and if you tripped and fell to the right, BYE BYE! I was panting and just said over and over again, "I think I can, I think I can". This was the hardest physical thing I had ever done in my 36 years of existence.

After about 3 hours and right at the top of our last incline, I was sure my hernia was going to pop open and I was going to die right there, never to be seen or heard from again (just kidding mom).

The last 30 minutes was a steep downhill trek and although very hard, I much preferred the downhill over UP. We got to the BAMBOO RAFT CAMP and had lunch. Rooney had made some ramen type of noodle soup. We scarfed down lunch and broke into groups.

THIS PART WAS AWESOME!

We rafted down the river in the coolest rafts. Made entirely of bamboo, there was no mistaking that we were in Thailand. There was a raft guide in the front, and a guy from our group (one of us on each raft) in the back steering with a giant bamboo pole. Basically, steering was pushing off the bottom of the river with your pole. The girls of the group got to sit and enjoy the ride. We went through portions of the river with some good rapids and others that were relatively calm. We saw great animals on the river banks and had some good water fights. The river was cool and so damn refreshing after hiking all that way. The steering wasn't too hard and if you wanted to rest for a bit, the guide in the front of the boat did all the work.

We got to the end of the rafting portion and had to hike about 30 minutes to the next village. This village was called LISU. We were shown our little area with similar accomodations. There was a fence around the visitors area to keep the pigs out - apparently in the past, the pigs and other animals have gotten into some belongings and ruined them. We has beer and this time, SHOWERED. Remember, a shower to some isn't alwasy a shower to another. There were 2 huts about 50 feet from camp. Inside each one was a hole in the ground (toilet) and a spiget coming out of the wall about 2 feet up from the floor. Everyone had their own method of showering but cold water splashed on your face and body felt good no matter what method. I put on clean clothes and we sat around drinking. Beer and moonshine (their homemade rice whickey) were the drinks of the evening. Dinner was rice and 2 dishes and I was pretty wasted. This time, after dinner, they too had "night market". I was drunk and having the best time with these people. Once again, I Have some great photos of us playing with the local kids and dancing with the villagers. After we danced in our area, we were invited to a local celebration in the center of the village. Rooney, obviously does all the translations for us. These villages don't speak Thai, each one has their own language but he knows enough to get by and make sure we get what we need.

At their "celebration", we all joined hands and played some dancing game. When the leader in the center of the circle stops playing his instruemnt (not sure what it was), the dancing circle has to stop moving as well. There is some pattern that we never really got the hang of, but they were having a blast with us. This lasted until about 11:30PM and we headed back to our area. I made a big fire and we sat around talking and drinking for a while. Our muscles were sore, every body part ached, but we were yukking it up.

Crawled into our hut at about 12:30AM

Trek - Day 3

I woke up first again and it was cold out. I got some wood, built a fire and had a great blaze going for the others when they got up. Same routine - got up, had breakfast, and packed up for the last day. The villagers lined up as we were leaving and waved us goodbye. The kids were all clinging onto us. I was so tempted to throw one in my pack and take him home.

Much to our suprise, our TRUCK was at the village and we DROVE to the next stop. The next stop was the entrance to some "National Park" where we got to hike about 40 minutes to a GIANT CAVE. This trek was almost as strenuous as yesterdays. Steep hills to get to the cave but once we got their, each step was cooler than the next. I don't know why, but for some reason, I didn't know about this caving we were going to be doing. This cave was HUGE and pitch black. If you didn't have your own flashlight, you had to rent one. When I'm talking pitch black, I mean it. This was not like any cave that I have been through at home. Those are all doctored up for tourists with ropes to help you find your way as well as nice ambient lighting so it's not so dark. This was VERY COOL and VERY STRENUOUS again. We were getting NO break. We had to crawl on our stomachs, trek down steep crevice like drops, climb through openings that even the smallest Thai person had to squeeze through and watch our heads for sharp stalactites that would surely sever your head wide open. Crawling on my stomach and contorting my body to fit through some of these little openings and crawling around like a confused mouse in a maze, made me think I was going to need emergency surgery and I was never going to recover. Although never really in pain, a thought crossed my mind that I shouldn't be doing this. HOWEVER, 2 hours later, we got to the other end of the cave and I was alive and although sweaty and disgustingly dirty, I felt great. The caves were awesome. Loaded with snakes, bats, and spiders, each step was a great adventure.

We now had to trek back to where we started. Another 3o-40 minutes of HELL but it was the last hell so it felt great. Knowing that I didn't have to walk one more step was the most exhiliarating feeling.

We had lunch (Rooney cooked while we caved) and hung out until it was time to get back in the truck and head back to Libra. The truck ride sucked but we made it back at about 6PM.

THIS TREK KICKED MY ASS yet was one of the most rewarding adventures I've ever taken. I hate to sound so cliche, but it has to be life-altering in some way or another.

We all shared a beer in the garden and slowly retreated to our rooms - some to sleep, and some to go out and get dinner.

I did some e-mailing, reading, and showered. A hot shower never felt so good. I scrubbed as much as I could as I may have been the dirtiest I've ever been.

I met up with Matt from the trek in the garden and we decided to go out for dinner. I took the recommendation of Alex Sohn and got a Tuk Tuk to "The Brasserie" on the river for dinner and local music. Great place, great food, and great atmosphere. I was exhausted and needed to get some sleep. After dinner, we walked over the bridge through some Chinese area that was enjoying some celebration and stumbled across the Night Market. This was the huge one that I went to with Adam and Emma a few days prior. I had no patience for this so we hopped in a Tuk Tuk and headed back.

I don't think I was in my room for more than 3 seconds before I was out cold.

Day 8 - Sunday, February 20 - Chiang Mai

I got a great night slep and woke up at 8:30AM.

Showered and headed over to the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. Established in 1993, it's the first "cookery school" to open in Chiang Mai. It is owned and run by Sompon Nabnian and his English wife, Elizabeth.

There were 13 people in the class - all English speaking but from all over the world (i.e. Holland, Belgium, Italy, Canada, US). We met in the courtyard of Sompon's restaurant called "Magic Wok". The school itself is in a classroom out back and beyond the classroom is a huge outdoor courtyard with cooking stations set up.

First we all met, introduced ourselves and the teacher came in. I can't pronounce her name, spell, it so you'll have to believe me that she was a great Thai Cook who must sideline as a comedianne. She was a character.

The way the class is structured is following: you convene in the classroom and she shows you how to make a dish. You then go outside into the cooking area and everyone makes an individual portion for yourself based on what you just learned in the class and eats it. We were handed a cookbook of all the dishes they teach at the school so we followed along as she was teaching and cooking the demonstration. The classroom even has the mirror above her prep table and stove so you can see what she's doing.

The first hour was spent teaching us how to make CURY PASTE. She showed us how to make Panaeng Curry Paste and then we each made ours. We set it aside to use in our first dish which was Panaeng Curry with Pork. Following are the dishes we made:

Panaeng Cury with Pork

Fried Fish with Chilli and Basil

Chiang Mai Curry with Chicken

Sweet and Sour Vegetales

Each one was better than the last and I was pretty impressed. All you need is a wok and some spices and all this could be yours too!!!

The last 2 were made and eaten together as our "lunch break". So far everyting was AWESOME and we were busting at the seams. Although, each a small individual portion, it was a lot of food. We went back into the classroom and learned how to make our final 2 dishes:

Spicy Glass Noodle Salad - a light rereshing, yet SPICY, salad

Black Sticky ice Pudding - a great Thai alternative to our RIce Pudding. SO MUCH BETTER THAN KOZY SHACK, my all time favorite in the stores

The class was over at around 3:30P and I headed over to check out the huge "weekend market" in the center of the city. I was told it was a great market and it runs from Sunday noon til midnight. I only walked a few blocks of it and turned around - I needed to be back at Libra at 6P for a pre-trek meeting.

The meeting started at 6:15P. There are 12 of us leaving tomorrow at 9AM for our Hill Tribe Trek. That being said, there wont be another blog until Wednesday night or Thursday AM the earliest (my time). I'll write all about the trek when I get back but basically, it's a 3 day trek throught the mountains visiting local Thai Tribes and living in their villages. We stay in huts in their village and they cook dinner for us. Along the way, we hike, take a 3 hour trip on a bamboo raft, and ride elephants. I'm looking forward to it as everyone says the treks are great.

We got our backpacks, sleeping bags, and instructions for what to bring and we all parted ways. It seems to be a good group of people.

Headed over to the Weekend Market and started walking. I had no idea how large it was. It went for MILES and MILED and just as you thougt you were nearing the end of the street, it contined on a street running perpendicular. This market had to be more than 3 miles of streets and vendors on each side. The stuff people sell here is much higher quality for dirt cheap. It is predominantly more of an arts and crafts market.

I walked for hours and eventually had no idea which street I needed to still walk to say I completed the whole market. At about 11PM, I thought it was time to quit. If I was going to be here next Sunday, I would come back and buy everything in site for my new import business. Abbott Kinney may be too expensive now - anyone have any ideas where my store should be? Anyone have any suggestions for a name?

I'm at an internet cafe now and it's just about midnight. I don't suspect anything happening to me on my walk back to Libra so until Wednesday or Thursday, have fun, take care, and enjoy. I promise on of my goals when I get back from the trek is to get some pictures up on my site. Until then.............

THAI TOILETS - an educational post

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING SECTION EXPLAINS SOMETHING OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE HERE IN THAILAND - IF YOU AREN'T INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT THE THAI (and I think all of Asia) TOILETS, PLEASE DO NOT READ. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE HOW GROSS I AM CAUSE IT IS THE WAY IT IS AND NOT ME BEING DISGUSTING. BESIDES, A LOT OF PEOPLE READING THIS BLOG HAVE NEVER BEEN TO ASIA SO MAY NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS.

The Toilet is a strange thing here. Well, not strange to the Thai (maybe all of Asia) but certainly strange to the Westerners.

For starters, the squat toilet is traditional. I have not used one yet so I can't comment. All places I've been to either have a Western Toilet or some of each.

Second, you can't find a roll of toilet paper to save your life here in a bathroom but every restaurant and food vendor on the street has rolls of it that they
use as napkins. They even have pretty dispensers for it. Sort of like
a tissue box holder but shaped for a roll of toilet paper.

I finally figured out the Thai way of using the bathroom with a little help from
the internet and a local at the Guest House I'm staying at. You do your business and then hose your bottom (remember, this blog is rated G) off with the provided hose that hangs next to the toilet in all Thai bathrooms. They use the hose coupled with their LEFT HAND to clean themselves and then always wash their hands after using the restroom. They say it's the reason we shake hands and supposed to EAT with your right hand. If they see you eating with your left hand, they get offended. Not really sure what left handed people are supposed to do. I hope I'm not grossing out the whole country of Thailand!!!! I have now been on the lookout for a Thai eating with his/her left hand but I haven't found one yet. It very well may be that whether left or right handed, you eat with your right hand.

The hose part is ok. Sort of refreshing - I have NOT, nor will I use my
hand! I use a little piece of toilet paper for drying off purposes. Not sure what the locals do aside from leaving the bathroom with a wet ass.

I hope the above was informative and used as a learning experience as each day here in Thailand is a learning experience for me.

Day 7 - Saturday, February 19 - Travel to Chiang Mai

Todays words:

filth·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (flth) adj. filth·i·er, filth·i·est
Covered or smeared with filth; disgustingly dirty. See Synonyms at dirty.
Obscene; scatological. Vile; nasty: a filthy traitor.

dirt·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dûrt) adj. dirt·i·er, dirt·i·est
Soiled, as with dirt; unclean. Spreading dirt; polluting: The air near the foundry was always dirty. Apt to soil with dirt or grime: a dirty job at the garage.
Contaminated with bacteria or other infectious microorganisms. Squalid or filthy; run-down: dirty slums.

loo·fa or loo·fah ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lf) also luf·fa (lf, lf)n.
Any of several Old World tropical vines of the genus Luffa, having cylindrical fruit with a fibrous, spongelike interior. The dried, fibrous part of the loofa fruit, used as a washing sponge or as a filter. Also called dishcloth gourd, vegetable sponge


Woke at 4AM after going to bed at 1:30A. Not really sure if that counts as a nights sleep.

Shared a taxi with a girl from Northern California who is living in Korea for a few years. Got to the airport, checked in for my flight, and boarded Nok Airlines for Chiang Mai. Met a couple from Kansas City (white mom, Thai husband, 2 kids, and a friend) who are visiting Chiang Mai for 2 weeks so the kids can see a bit of their heritage.

Landed at 8:00A. Much cooler in Chaing Mai than Bangkok but have no fear, it warmed up by noon.

Went to the Libra Guesthouse and waited for my room to be ready. Met 2 NY Westchester Jews who are traveling for 2 weeks. They are both therapists and were lame. They give jews AND New Yorkers a bad name. Didn't have much to say to them so I let them eat their breakfast and minded my own businss.

Finally got into my room and although the "lobby" area isn't nearly as nice as Shanti, my room is quite big, airy, windows all around and pretty nice. Got situated and started walking around. Within minutes of walking, I ran into Emma and Adam from Bangkok. They were at a market with their chef from their cooking class they were enrolled in. My class isn't until tomorrow. Made a plan to meet them at their guesthouse tonight at 7P to venture to the "night market". I walked around the the city for a few hours. It's much smaller and managable than Bangkok. The whole city is situated around a mote and I just walked the perimeter to take it all in. There is a great park (Buak Hat Park)on the southwest corner of the city and I hung out there for a while. It's a small park, but has beautiful grounds, great flowers all around, bridges and Pagodas over little rivers and people were just enjoying their day not really caring that a giant "farang" had entered their park.

Stopped for Yellow noodles in cury soup with Chicken at a local joint. One of the best things I've eaten so far and those who are following my adventures, know that I am loving the food here.

Headed back to Libra (my guesthouse) and met up with a few people who were having drinks in the garden. I have no idea of their names or anything about them.

I headed back out to check out some of the shops I had seen earlier in the day and also tried to find a loofah. For some reason, I am feeling very dirty. Between all the barefootness here in Thailand (you have to take your shoes off to enter almost anywhere, including the guesthouses), the cool showers for a week in Bangkok, and the layers of caked on sweat, soap and water just don't cut it.

Does ANYONE know where to find a LOOFAH, a PUMICE STONE, or some skin safe abrasive for the human body in Thailand? I'm thinking I may have to go to a automotive shop and get some steel wool if I don't find any of the above today.

Walked around and got lost once I left the perimeter streets and tried to navigate through the tiny alleys and streets. This city has a small time feel about it. It's great. It's quaint and it's somewhat charming. There also seem to be more proper shops than in Bangkok as well as restaurants and bars as we know them to be. Everything here isn't a market.

I asked a Thai woman in a manicure / massage storefront where I could go to get some scrubbing stuff. At this point, the steel wool was the only option. She told me of a little Pharmacia a few streets down that should have what I was looking for. Sure enough, the Thai don't disappoint. I found a pumice stone. That would certainly do justice on my feet that, right now, look as if I tatood them BLACK! That and a HOT shower (yes the Libra has HOT water) should help with this feeling of filth I am experiencing.

Got back to Libra and showered.

MUCH BETTER!

I got dressed and headed to the Smile Guesthouse to pick up Adam and Emma. We walked over to the Night Market or the Night Bazaar as some call it. I like the crap much better in Chiang Mai. I may have to start an importing business. I bet I could make a FORTUNE filling up a few containers of stuff here, both furniture, crap, and silk, and opening a store in LA. I didn't buy anything but once again, tagged some stuff and noted where it was (I'll never be able to find it next time I'm go back there).

At one point, we found some giant food area with some local Thai music and dancers. They were pretty awful. We ate some Rotee and every bite was more orgasmic than the next. It's sort of the Thai version of a crepe. We all had them with egg and banana. They crack an egg on the crepe, throw on some sliced bananas and fold it into a big square. They then fry it up for a litle while, cut it into squares, and pour condensed milk over it. I'm telling you, it's great. This will definitely be featured on my "Marc Cooks Thailand" show on the Food Network when I get back. Had a few beers and headed back to the area of our guest houses which is only a 5-10 minute walk. At one point, we heard yelling, screaming, and cheering. We looked down an alley and saw a Thai Boxing match going on. It was erected at the end of this bar and restaurant lined alley. As we got closer, we saw some guy getting the crap kicked out of him. We watched a few "rounds" and headed on again. Adam and I are meeting up again on Friday to go to a real Thai Boxing match. Thai Boxing is the national sport of Thailand and you can read more about it at the link below:

http://bangkok.sawadee.com/muaythai.htm

Got back to Libra and went straight to bed. It was about 1:30AM and Libra was pretty quiet.

Day 6 - Friday, February 18 - Floating Market / River Kwai

Good morning to all:

TODAY I LOST MY LIFE - MY DAYPACK WAS MISSING!

Since here in Bangkok, I carry my day-pack each and every day no matter where I go. In my day-pack at any given moment are the following:

my journal, (1) cliff bar in case of dire hunger (since here, it has melted, shaped and re-shaped many times), my passport, my plane tickets home, my Canon 35mm camera, a few rolls of 35mm film, an extra memory stick for my digital camera, a hat, whatever book I'm reading that day, Lonely Planet, a few maps, a small travel roll of Charmin, a 5-pack of Old Spice Cool Contact wipes, a small Thai Phrase Book and dictionary, and my "point-it-book". (The point it book is a tiny color paperback that has photos of anything you can possible imagine in case you really just need to point to something to get your point across.)

On my person normally is my wallet and my digital camera. (unless of course I have to hop on a motorcycle taxi in which case they get thrown into my day-pack)

I woke up at 6:20A to get ready for my tour. Was picked up at 6:50A SHARP and made a few stops to gather some other people. We were 9 of us in this little van going to the Floating Market.

The trip to the Floating Market was about 1.5 hours Southwest of Bangkok. I met Naita (sp?) from Switzerland and we talked most of the way. As we were nearing the market, we stopped at a Coconut Farm where they made SUGAR. This sugar is a bit different from the Sugar made from Sugar Cane. It's a little caramelly in flavor and it was pretty cool. I wasn't really paying atention to how they make it but I did see giant pots of coconut guts being boiled down and getting syruppy. There was a little gift shop with all sorts of things made out of coconut wood. The whole stop was about 30 minutes.

Ventured onward to the Floating Market. Arrived just after 9AM. This place is COOL and certainly something to be seen on your next trip to Bangkok. It's so hard to do it justice, but basically, here's the deal. The market is set up on a series of canals. There are locals, some in stationary boats tied up to the banks of the canals, and some are constantly moving around and weaving in and out of the canals. You can either walk on the banks of the canals and call over to a passing boat if you want to buy something or you can hop in a little bloat being steered, usually by an 80 year old local lady. In some of the boats there are local goods / merchandise. In others fruits and vegetables. The steerer of your boat is in the back so if she sees you are looking at something or making a purchase, she stays put until you are done. We bought some Thai grapefruit which was awesome. We also bought something that looked like a pear mated with a red delicious. That too, was pretty good. We ate Mangosteen's. (Until today, I didn't know mangos came in the jew and goyim version). We ate Dragon Fruit and lot's of other things that I can't pronounce or even know the name of. Our little boat ride lasted about 30 minutes. Between the buyers (SOME locals but mostly tourists) and the selling boats, the canals are packed and the boats are constantly bumping into one another.
It really is pretty cool. When we got off the boat, we walked around on foot for a while. At one point, Naita and I were taking photos of each other and we had each others bags. She was tring on some clothing and I was busing some crap made from Coconut wood. I was bargaining with the guy, and moved on after agreeing on a price that was half of what he originally quoted and I STILL think I paid too much.

About 10 minutes later, we met back up at another fruit stand selling some Thai bananas which I was craving since the second we got to the market. I asked for my bag so I could put my new purchases in and she had a blank stare on her face. She thought I had it. I thought she had it. I can't even begin to go into detail to describe the thoughts that rushed through my head. These canals go in different directions and I wasn't even sure where the last time I saw it was.

I FREAKED OUT - internally, of course. She thought I was being pretty calm but she had no idea what was racing through my mind.

I took a mental inventory of what was in my bag - I WAS FUCKED!

We both made a mad dash in the direction we thought we came from. We tried to trace our steps and neither of us really knew where we had been. It had now about 20 minutes since I had seen my bag and I really started feeling sick.

About 5 minutes later as we were frantically looking for the vendor where we left my bag, I felt a tug on my shirt and I almost turned around and slugged whoever it was that was trying to sell me something. Instead, I saw a little boy, the cutest little Thai boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old, holding my bag and offering it to me. He didn't speak English. I don't speak Thai so the only thing I could do was offer him the Thai bow of thanks and offer him 20 baht for his efforts. He wouldn't take it. I took a picture of him and wil always remember his little innocent face.

He returned my life to me.

I would forever be indebbted to this little boy who I would never see again.

We got back to the bus and ventured on. The next stop was the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetary. Buried here are thousands of Allied POW's who died in captivity during WW2.

Next stop was lunch. We ate at the C&C Guesthouse. They brought us plates of authentic Thai food and of course, like everything else, it was yummy. By this point, we were all buddies and were all exchanging stories of where we have been and where we were going next.

Nex stop was GREAT. This was a bonus. I wasn't aware we were going to a Tiger Conservatory. It was so HOT. The hottest day yet. We had to walk a while up a road to get to the conservatory. We arrived at a big iron gate and they let us in. There were some animals just grazing inches from us but they really had no interest in us. There were a few horses, some cows, some mangy looking elk-like animals and we just walked past. About 1/2 mile up the road, we came to our destination. It felt and looked like Africa! There was one section with some caged tigers. They were sleeping for the most part. A few of the guys from my van called me over to a different section where there were 2 tiny, 4 week old, CUBS in an open cage just hanging out. The monk who was monitoring them said we could go in and pet them. With absolutely no supervision, we were in the cage petting and playing with these 4 week old cubs. We were told to go further down the dirt path and follow the signs that read "Tiger Play". We walked down into what looked like the quarry where Fred and Barney worked on "The Flintstones". A few monks and a few "animal handlers" were hanging out with 2 cubs and 4 LARGE tigers. There was no cage. There was nothing between US and THEM. It was a wide open space and the "trainers" were taking people 2 at a time to pet, play with, and take photos with these enormous TIGERS! REAL LIVE TIGERS! I have some GREAT shots which I hope to post in the next few days. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. For some reason, I felt safe. Maybe due to the fact that there were 4 monks there looking out for our well being.

We got back on the bus and headed to the River Kwai. At this point, I was hanging out with Will, Kate, and Vickie. Will and Kate are traveling together from Melbourne and they picked up Vivkie today on the bus. We got off the bus, went to the WW2 museum, looked and walked over Bridge over River Kwai, took some photos, and ran into some guy who was walking around with a 1 year old elephant selling bags of food to feed him for 20 baht. I couldn't resist. It was my first Thai encounter with an elephant and in the same day that I just played with TIGERS! Was I on Safari in Africa or in Thailand? Maybe it's one and the same. The elephant was awesome. I fed him a few bags of what seemed to be potatoes and a whole bunch of bananas. He didn't even bother to peel them, just at the whole damn bunch!

The bridge, although just a bridge was pretty neat. Lot's of history packed on this one little bridge. It is, after all, the Bridge on the River Kwai.

At this point, we were all exhausted, and although we had a great day, were ready to get the hell back to Bangkok. The ride home was forver and a day. Will, Kate, and I spent most of it talking about "The Amazing Race" (they are 1 season behind the US) and Survivor.

We said our goodbye's, exchanged e-mails, and parted ways.

Got back to Shanti, had some excellent Rice Soup and Red Coconut Curry and packed. Got my shit in order, settled my bill (3985 baht for 6 nights, 3 breakfasts, 3 dinners, lots of bottled water, and my daily fresh juice drink when I got back each afternoon), put my bag I was leaving behind in storage, had them order a cab for me (4AM PICK UP AT SHANTI - OUCH) and said goodbye to all the workers who made my stay as enjoyable as it was. I'll miss Shanti but will be back sometime at the end of my trip to stay a few final nights and reclaim my stuff in stoarge.

Tomorrow morning, I am taking a 6AM flight to Chiang Mai.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/south_east_asia/chiang_mai/

Day 5 - Thursday, February 17 - Bangkok

TODAY I ESCAPED DEATH - TWICE

There were 3 key words of today's events:

Unbearable - un·bear·a·ble ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-bโr-bl) adj.
So unpleasant, distasteful, or painful as to be intolerable: unbearable heat
adj : impossible to bear; "unbearable pain";

Traffic - traf·fic ( P )Pronunciation Key (trfk)n.
The passage of people or vehicles along routes of transportation.
Vehicles or pedestrians in transit: heavy traffic on the turnpike; stopped oncoming traffic to let the children cross.

Death - death ( P )Pronunciation Key (dth) n.
The act of dying; termination of life.
The state of being dead.


So I awoke early for my trip to the Floating Market. Unfortunately, they never came to pick me up. I now had to plan a new day for myself.

Had breakfast (cheese omlette) at Shanti and read a little. Met Adam and Emma Bell -a Brisitsh brother / sister team who were traveling together. Chatted for a while and made a plan to meet up in Chang Mai as they were taking an overnight train this evening and I was heading up there Sat AM. Decided to check out Jim Thompson's House and Museum. I had no idea who Jim Thompson is / was. Do any of you? To learn alittle about the man and the legend:

http://bangkokmag.infothai.com/thompson.htm

It's actually a pretty interesting story.

Took a Tuk Tuk to the Sky Train. BIG MISTAKE as it took forever to get to the Sky Train to only to go 2 stops. The traffic was unbearable. Sometimes, you don't move for 10 minutes. You just sit there breathing the exhaust. Some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. Being stuck in a Tuk Tuk in traffic SUCKS! The exhaust is HORRIBLE. You might as well camp out in a cars tail pipe for a few years. I thought I was going to meet my untimely death by exhaust or by falling off the back of a motorcycle.

It was my first experience with the train. It's blasting with A/C so it's nice for a change. It's elevated so you can see where you are going. The one drawback is it doesn't really go very far. Found Jim Thompson's House and it's all guided tours so I had to wait about 25 minutes for the next tour to leave. Was met by the greatest tour guide and began. She was cute, knowledgeable, and funny. Was in a group of 12 people and it's a prety cool house. It's a Thai House but with Western Influence as well. I learned a lot and thinking of building myself my own Thai house when I get back.

After the tour, walked around Siam Square a bit. Stumbled across a food lined alley and got some thick noodles with chicken and egg all stir fried together. Sort of like Pad Thai, but not really. It was very tasty and once again 20 baht.

I was then on a corner watching the cars, motorcycle taxi's, tuk tuk's, and regular taxi's whiz by whilst reading my Lonely Planet to see if there was anything else in that area that I needed to see before heading back. I met Matt and Jamie - 2 young Canadian's who also had their eyes glued to their own Lonely Planet. We chatted it up for a while and shared some experiences. They are passing through Bankgok on their way to Phuket. They are doing the whole Asia thing (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Hong Kong) for 3 months.

I then took a glimpse inside this HUGE, and I mean HUGE indoor Mall. This was a Mall like we know the term to mean but it may have been the biggest thing I've ever seen. Tons of gold shops, and everything else you can imagine. It was PACKED with locals and tourists and after only 20 minutes I had enough. On the way out, I passed a Swenson's and couldn't resist a Rocky Road cone - one of the only American things I've eaten so far.

Decided to take the water taxi home. After all, by now you all know how much I love the water taxi's. I have mastered the RIVER boats - they are SIMPLE. However, the area I was in wasn't near the river, yet on a little canal. How difficult could it be to take a canal taxi to the river, transfer to a River taxi and head home? Got on the canal taxi and went for quite a while. Thought I should be seeing some signs of the river by now but none came my way. Then thought Buddah would send me a signal that I was going the wrong way - none came. Many many stops later, I found someone on the taxi who spoke enough "Tinglish" to tell me I was going the wrong way.

I still don't understand that NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, can read a map. Even if you show them a map, and ask them in THAI where we are NOW, they can't pinpoint it. They can't even SEE the huge RIVER on the map and point in the direction of where they think that river may be. It's frustrating but I survive and don't get too upset. Kim from Shanti says Thai's aren't good with maps - they can't read them so don't try to show them one.

Well, I got off the boat and walked off the pier to the street. I had NO CLUE where I was. I'm not even sure I was still in Bangkok proper. I found someone who said, "you lost". With help from 3 other people, he managed to unfold the map a few times and point to where we were. We were not anywhere I had ever been and was in no way, shape, or form going to get in a taxi and try to explain where I needed to go in RUSH HOUR. It then dawned on me.....show the guy the SKY TRAIN MAP and see if there is a stop nearby. OH, he got excited and pointed to the nearest Train stop. I thanked him and started to walk. He said, "no, no, no, no can walk - cycle", and proceeded to find me a motorcycle taxi. This was a first too.

I emptied my pockets, put everything I had in my day-pack and hopped on the back of this motorcycle with my flip flops dangling and went for a ride. These things are CRAZY! They don't follow ANY traffic laws. They weave in and out of lanes of traffic. They even drive on the opposite side of the road against oncoming traffic and then weave quickly back into the correct lane when another vehicle comes their way. If you need to get someplace quick, this is the way to go. Needless to say, the driver wears a helmet burt doesn't carry a spare for the passenger. At one point, traffic let up and we had a good straightaway. I looked down at the spedometer and we were going 75. I'm not sure 75 WHAT, but it was 75 and it seemed too fast to be driving like a maniac without a helmet on exhaust filled streets in the middle of rush hour. It was a pretty far ride and the whole way was spent weaving in and out of traffic sometimes even at a red light to get to the front of the pack so we could be the first one off when it turned green.

We made it to the Sky Train.

I survived motorcycle trip #1.

I boarded. The closest train stop to Shanti isn't close at all....I needed cheat death one more time and get another motorcycle taxi. It would have taken at least an hour if I was in a tuk tuk or a cab. It only took us about 15 minutes.

Got back to Shanti.

I survived motorcycle trip #2.

I booked a new tour for tomorrow. This time, I'm going to attempt a full day trip starting out at the floating market and then to River Kwai. I hear there's a bridge I'm supposed to see.

Had dinner at Shanti with Adam and Emma - I had cream of mushroom soup with chicken and Indian Curry with Prawns. Both were spectacularly excellent.

I'm hanging at the Shanti tonight so I'm posting this now. Just know, I'll probably be in bed by 11P and will wake at 6A (if not sooner) - I'm being picked up at 7 for my day trip.

Day 4 - Wednesday, February 16 - Bangkok

Today was deemed LAZY DAY!

Today I ate!

Today I ate some more!

Today I ate yet again!

I woke up at about 6:30A and decided I wasn't going to do much of anythnig today. Realized every day doesn't have to be jam packed. After all, I have 6 weeks of this and nobody is telling me where to be and when. I'm beinning to feel at home here at Shanti. I'm beginning to feel Thai.

Went to the breakfast area at about 7:30 and chatted it up with a German couple who were waiting for a cab. They are heading to Burma today and then back to Munich at the end of the month.

Had breakfast at about 9:30 - homemade mueslie with homemade yogurt and fresh fruit. It was really fresh and really good. I'm talking so fresh that I think the yogurt was the milk that never made it back in the fridge after the last person took it out last night.

I vegged around Shanti (the lodge) for most of the morning. Talked to Rochelle in the internet cafe for a bit. She is the 18 year old daughter of Kim, the owner. Kim is originally from South Africa, married a Thai man, and now lives here in Bangkok. She and her husband own and run the Shanti Lodge, and the internet Cafe / travel agency next door.

Rochelle has been living in Phuket but recently moved back to Bangkok to "run" the internet cafe and the "travel agency". She books peoples day trips / airline and bus tickets to other parts of Thailand, as well as other countries, and hooks you up with the latest and greatest best deals. Just today, she was telling someone of this great deal she can get for them in March - a $4 PLANE ticket from Bangkok to Phuket.

At about 1PM, I decided to head to Khao San Road to change some money and buy a little duffel bag of sorts. I went through all my stuff this AM and will be leaving a bag behind in the Shanti Lodge storage room. I am no way in need of all the stuff I currently have. They charge 5 baht a day to leave stuff....that is THIRTEEN CENTS A DAY!

Hopped in a Tuk Tuk to Khao San Road and was feeling the need for some street food. After all, it was nearing lunch time. The first stop was a little lady selling rice with some stir fry vegetables over it. She stir fries them right on her cart on this huge awesome wok that looks like has been in her family since the reign of King Rama V. Quite tasty and only 20 baht (52 cents) for a little styrofoam containers worth. Certainly enough for lunch.

Later down the road, after looking at thousands of "North Face" backpacks and duffel bags, I stumbled across a lady making fresh Pad Thai. I guess this was my mid day snack and for another 20 baht, I savored every bite of this delectable dish. All these little street carts usually have a tiny little plastic table (i.e. what you would find in a kindergarden classroom) and a few stools set up in case you want to "dine" with the cook rather than walk and eat.

Walked some more and tagged a few shops that I will be heading back to when I arrive back here. There is a LOT OF CRAP to buy and I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself when the shopping time comes. By this time, another hour had passed and it was certainly time to eat again.

Down some alley, after passing the 86th money exchange place, 3496th gift stall and shop, and the 294th tailor shop yearing to make a custome made suit for any passer byer who would dare enter, I found the motherload. A 106 year old lady sitting by a little grill with some tasty looking skewers smouldering on top. I could make out most of the meats. Chicken? Beef? Pork? Hmmmmm, WAS that indeed pork I was looking at. I really couldn't be sure. I pointed at the first row of skewers and she said, "chicken". I pointed and the second row and said, "Beef"?. She replied, "no beef". Oh, hmmmm, interesting, it sure looks like beef to me. She said, "chicken". She then pointed at skewer #1 and said, "chicken", pointed to skewer # 2 and said, "chicken", and pointed at skewer # 3 and said, "chicken". I pointed and said, "ALL CHICKEN"? She pointed to skewer # 1 and said, "chicken", pointed to #2 and said, "chicken inside, liver" and then to skewer # 3 and said, "chicken inside - kidney". There you have it. It was as simple as broken english spoken by a 106 year old Thai lady. I wasn't so sure about the kidneys but boy did I feast on a skewer of chicken and a skewer of chicken inside - liver. YUMMMMMM! I just imagined I was eating it on a piece of matzoh and called it Passover!

I was pretty satisfied and still made sure I had room for a pre-dinner snack.

It was time to retreat back to Shanti. Decided to take a water taxi home as it was nearing really bad traffic time. Besides, it's so simple, it's only 10 baht, and I hadn't walked through my market yet today. The pier is only a few minute walk from Khao San Road but I stumbled across this really cool cobblestone lined alley / street with tons of Guest Houses / shops / stalls / and even a few proper "restaurants". It was a really cool place. I detoured and walked around a bit and came across "The Green House Guest House" which is where Brad and Annie from yesterday's Chinatown trek were staying. They weren't in, so I ventured onward.

Came across this rustic looking pub/bar/restaurant caled "Hungry", probably owned by a westerner who re-located here. Stopped in for a beverage. Of course, I had to have a little green papaya salad to end the day with. It was the same salad that I had last night at the Beer Buree and the same salad that Julie Jones told me about I think. It's really refreshing and UNBELIEVABLY spicy at the same time. Without the use of a mirror, I wasn't quite sure I still had lips or a tongue left. I was now full and dinner was not in the cards for me. Although each of my snacks today were small and Thai sized, I managed to eat enough for a pretty good size lunch - you know the sized lunch that makes you not that hungry for dinner.

Found the pier, got on the boat and whilst I was walking through my market (I believe the market has been re-named "The Hammer Group Market"), I heard a familiar noise. A noise I hadn't really been aware of since I arrived. The noise was coming from my pocket. Could it be? My World Cell Phone, provided by none other than Mike Gearin himself, was RINGING. It was the first day I was carrying it expecting a call from Aunt Barbara and Uncle Philip who, yet in the same city, were experiencing it on a different level. I was invited to dinner at The Oriental Hotel with them. Being that this was the same hotel I was denied access to in the middle of the day for my casual attire, I certainly didn't have proper wear for dinner. We made a plan to meet at the Peninsula for a drink after their dinner at 10:30PM.

Arrived back to Shanti at 4:50P - just in time to book my trip to the "floating market" with Rochelle in the Internet Cafe. See link below:

http://www.virtourist.com/asia/bangkok/14.htm

Hung out, read, relaxed, and fell asleep. Woke up suddenly at 9:50P and rushed to get ready. Showered and put on my finest clothes for drinks at the Peninsula which consisted of sneakers, clean socks (first pair I've worn since I arrived), my wash and wear nylon type of travel pants that zip off at the knee to convert them into shorts, and a clean shirt. I walked through the lodge feeling as if I were going to a wedding.

The cab driver was, well.....a typical cab driver. After I said, "Peninsula Hotel?" and he said "yes", I thought all was fine. As we were driving he started talking to me in Thai and realized he had no clue where that was. I was already late and was slightly anxious to get there as quick as possible. I wanted to be pissed off but how could I be? What would that accomplish? He wouldn't understand, I would get annoyed, and I would raise my blood pressure certainly higher than it needed to be for no reason. Finally. I managed to make him understand where it was by repeating over and over, "Peninsula Hotel", Oriental Hotel" and made gestures of tall buildings and water. As we crossed the river, I saw the hotel in the distance, pointed and with sheer excitement said, "yes, yes, yes, Peninsula Hotel".

They were waiting for me in the lobby, I ordered a beer and we chatted. We tried to catch up as best we could, I explained my trip to them and they expalined their cruise to me. Two different worlds colliding at once. I'm glad I stuck around Bangkok a little longer to see them. There arne't many people I would change my plans for, but ever since I was born (or old enough to remember, my Aunt Barbara help a special place in my life). I don't see them often, so the chance to see them here, of all places, was certainly special. It was getting late so we said good-bye and I hopped in a cab. The doorman explained to the cab driver exaclty where I was going and I got there without any problems.

Tucked myself in, and set my alarm for 6:30AM for the Floating Market tour.

Day 3 - Tuesday, February 15 - Bangkok

Sorry for the ones who wake up eagerly awaiting the adventures of Marc in Thailand. There was no blog entry yesterday. As soon as I leave Bangkok, they will be a little more spaced out so I'm weaning you now. Don't get spoiled by daily entries.

Woke at my usual time.....about 5:30AM. Did the same morning routine. I planned my day and re-planned the rest of the trip. I'm now going to stay in Bangkok a few more days and take some day trips from here. We'll see how long that plan lasts.

Finally showered.....did I tell you that the water insn't HOT. I may have left that part out the other day. It actually feels good to take a cool shower in the AM. It's cool, not ice cold. Ran out of the lodge without breakfast and made my way through the market across from the Lodge to the other end to get to the river. I won't even begin to tell you all the stuff I saw. Most people wouldn't believe me. I will say though, I'm not sure what people do with half this stuff they buy. Cook it? Eat it? Feed it to their animals? Not sure!

The water taxi is the most enjoyable way to get around. It's quick, convenient, and you don't deal with the RIDICULOUS traffic on the streets. At night, when the water taxi isn't running, it's sometimes easier to stay around the Lodge than deal with the cabs and Tuk Tuk's. Oh wait, a new word. A Tuk Tuk is a 3 wheeled little vehicle that spews out gross fumes but can weave in and out of the traffic to sometimes get you there quicker than a taxi can. You also have to deal with the Tuk Tuk scam of getting in and having the driver try to take you to a completely different place than you requested. In broken english, they try to convince you that you must go to some shopping place to buy silk, a new custom-made suit, or local crafts. If you buy something at these stores, they get a commission. I know, it sounds retarded but it's true and people fall for it all the time. When they offer this "great deal", you have to just say, "NO, I want to go HERE (and point to the map).

Anyhoo, took the water taxi down to another big market that people say to visit. Yup, another huge market with alleys and alleys, and streets and streets of food, both live and dead, vegetables, eggs, live chickens, caracases of animals hanging on hooks, and of course the hundreds of dogs and cats who wander the streets and markets aimlessly looking for a home that may be better than the one they currently have. I left the market and made my way to Chinatown. It wasn't too easy to find, but after a few wrong turns, there it was. I opened the Lonely Planet (a travel book for those who aren't familiar) and procceded to take myself on their recommended foot tour. NUTS! MAYHEM I tell you. Once again, I had some idea of what it was like due to The Amazing Race but walking and living it are much different than seeing it on your couch cheering on your favorite team. Thin little alleys and streets lined with the usual but this time, in Chinese fare. Some of the alleys / streets are filled with food and some just filled with more Hello Kitty shit than you can possibly imagine!!!

I finally did it. I ate off the street vendors carts and now I'm hooked. I realized one very important thing - The best and worst thing about eating off these carts is that you really have no idea what it is that you are eating and 99% of the vedors don't speak english to tell you. I bought 3 skewers of fried things. 1 seemed to be chicken, 1 seemed to be pork (?) and one was a mystery. I had one bit of that one and threw it away. I was afraid it might have been something nasty that I walked by in one of the markets earlier. I walked further and met up with 2 other people who looked like they too were taking themselves on the Lonely Planet Walking Tour of Chinatown. It was Brad and Annie of Australia. Two youngens traveling through Asia prior to settling in London for a year to find some work. We walked around for a while until the end of the "tour". We tried to find this little Indian sect of town but we were unsuccessful. Somehow, after walking for about an hour, we ended up back in Chinatown. We went to a Chinese Restaurant but it was too expensive so we left. Lunch would have cost us about $10 US each and that wasn't in their budget and certainly would have put a dent in my daily one as well. We got up from the table and left. Walked more and finally ended up at the river. I put them on a water taxi (they hadn't experienced them yet and had no idea how to get to where they were going) and I decided to head a little further south to The Peninsula Hotel.

Coincidentally, my aunt and uncle got to Bangkok yesterday prior to leaving on a Cruise on Thursday. I landed at the Pier which is across the river from the Peninsula. I was going to take a "crossing" boat taxi but was told the Peninsula has their own boats to transport across the river. The Peninsula boats are much nicer than the normal ones. I went to the lobby, went to the pool, went to the restaurants thinking maybe I would run into my aunt and uncle but they weren't anywhere to be found. I called their room but to no avail. I left a note and hopefully, they'll be able to reach me before they leave. I'm not sure if this "world phone" I have is working. I also don't know if the Lodge has the capability to take a message if someone calls for me.

I went back to the pool and plopped down for a minute to baske in the afternoon sun and enjoy the life of the rich and famous who see Bangkok a completely different way than I am. It's a beautiful hotel right on the river and the service is great. I could tell just from the way the concierge treated me upon asking for a piece of paper. The hotel guests were of a different class than the ones staying at the Shanti Lodge. I'm not sure if I stood out in my sweat soaked shirt, a day pack on my back, and my flip-flops but you know me, I didn't really care. From that point, I went back across the river and checked out that part of town. Directly across from the Peninsula is the Oriental Hotel. Apparently, it too, it beautiful and a place to see or stay when I land back in Bangkok for a few days at the end. One small problem......THEY WOULDN'T LET ME IN DRESSED THE WAY I WAS! SCREW THEM - If I decide to stay NICE when I come back, it's The Peninsula for me.

Boarded a water taxi back north to the Lodge. It took about 25 minutes or so and I walked back through the market and back to the Lodge. Plopped down, had a fresh squeezed Watermelom juice and read a little.

I came back to the Lodge and realized, for now, I'm just as happy in a Backpacker's "guesthouse" as I am at a fancy hotel. Everyone is coming back from their day, having a cool beverage *|(have I mentioned that it is REALLY hot here), reading their reading books, their travel books planning their next stop, writing in their journals (whether it be in pen and ink or typing at a computer), and ordering up dinner for those who like to eat at the Lodge.

I'm going to eat at a little outdoor beer garden / restaurant that I stumbled across on the way to the water taxi called Beer Buree.

OK, so I walked back through the market which was about 98% empty. When I say "market" in all these writings, please remember that they aren't true markets like we know of with 4 walls and a door that open and close at a certain time rather flea market types of markets. For those who have traveled to foreign countries, please excuse the hand holding that I must do for those who haven't. There were a few "booths" still open but not really sure who they were selling to. There were some ladies husking corn for the morning, some others who were scaling some fish, and a few kids that wre cutting the stems off of thousands and thousands of peppers, some red and some green. The buckets of live fish, eel, and snakes were all covered up and the meats were taken off their spikes. All in all, The market was barren aside from the strays.

The Beer Buree was pretty good. Although somewhat pricey, the beer was ice cold, the spicy mango salad (not sure where the mango's were) wasn't too spicy, and the Prawn Pad Thai was tasty. Good thing I didn't eat a proper lunch today cause dinner set me back 249 baht ($6.50 US).

I muddled back through the market and back to the lodge and decided to get a taxi to Patpong. Patpong and the Patpong Night Market is apparently a must when visiting Bangkok. For more info, go to:

http://www.thailand.com/travel/nightlife/nightlife_bangkok_patpong.htm

and

http://www.epinions.com/content_3910639748

The cab dropped me off on a eaterie and shop lined street and in his best of English told me that this was where the action was. Seemed kind of lame to me but being here for 3 days now, I had a feeling there was more. As I walked down the street, it was the first glimpse I had of the West. Haagen Dazs, Burger King, Dunkin Donut's (we dont even have Dunkin Donuts in LA) and even a Foot Lockeresque type of store selling the latest in Nike, Adidas, and Asics. On the sidewalks were street vendors selling more of the same and at this point I had no idea what was real and what was imitation. I stopped in for a "brief" ONE HOUR Thai Foot Massage. It was my first one since I'm here and it certainly wont be the last. Foot massage, reflexology, and then a brief hand and shoulder massage for 250 baht. Are you getting the hang of the money yet. That whole hour cost me $6.50 US.

It was now time to find the real excitement of Patpong and after a slip into the next alley I came across, it wasn't hard. In typical Bangkok fashion, the alley's are where the excitement is. First the night market - see the link above. Stalls and stalls and stalls of locals selling CRAP. This time, it's not fruit, vegetables, and animals. This market is Flea Market type of stuff. You want t-shirts, watches, sunglasses, Chanel, Gucci, Rolex, it's here. They try to lure you to their stall any way possible. They even go so far as to tug on your shirt and yank at you. That was the part that annoyed me the most but it was the same sweat filled, but now dried shirt I had worn all day so it should have bothered them more than me.

I made it through the lanes and lanes of that crap without buying a thing.

Next alley over, the atmosphere changed quite a bit. NEON! SEX! NEON! SEX! GIRLS! SEX! BOYS! SEX! LIVE SEX SHOWS! It was sensory overload and I knew I had reached Patpong. Patpong 1 and Patpong 2 are the 2 alleys that have exactly what you are looking for no matter what in fact, it is, that you are looking for. Once again, the proprietors or the goons that work for them try to lure you in to see a sex show and drink. They will not take no for an answer. They will follow you continuing to ask you to come in until you either do, or they have drifted too far form their front door that it's time to work on the next victim. For those of you who are waiting for details, just know that I behaved myself and looked but didn't touch. When in Cuba, do like the Cubans, when in Thailand, refrain!

A few hours later it was time to head back to the lodge. It was after 1AM, a sign that I was finally on local time, and needed a shower (yes, Pilar, I showered before I went to bed to get all the sweat off - boy was I salty!!). I read a little and passed out prety quickly.

Not sure what tomorrow has in store, but it may be a mellow day in Bangkok. I've been running, seeing, and sweating for 3 days straight in this intense heat and I need a little break.

Until we meet again.....

Day 2 - Monday, February 14th - Bangkok

Hello and welcome to a new day. For now, I am able to write daily. Not sure what the next city / town / province / etc will hold as far as internet accessibility.

I also will update the prior day so make sure to look back to make sure you didn't miss anything.

HAPPY VALENTINES TO ALL......there are no cards and no flowers on the way to anyone.....just a simple Happy Valentines Blog.

I woke up this AM at about 5:30. I think I'm done with this Jet Lag shit. Today will be my first "normal" day. I went to the "lobby" and met this guy from Vancouver who was leaving to go back home after 5 months in Thailand, China, and Russia. He gave me some good tips on some of the islands. I read a little more of "The Beach" and showered. Started thinking about my next stop. Decided to stay in Bangkok until Wednesday AM. At that point, I'm going to some place that I can't spell right now. It is the old capitol of Thailand and it's just something to see off the baten path rather than going right to Chang Mai. It's a bit north of Bangkok and on the way to Chang Mai.

This new plan has me blowing off the Full Moon Party on Ko Phang Ngan but I can't do everything I want to here and up north and still make it down South for the party on the 21st of February. If I rush down South to get to the party, I then miss out on things I want to do before heading to the islands and I'm on the islands for over a month. Oh well.

I had some breakfast at the lodge and it was pretty much my first real meal here. How can a simple florentine omlette with toast be soo good. Not sure what they put in it, but it was certainly better than my favorite Florentine Omlette at Bread and Porridge on Wilshire. Also had some fresh apple juice and although, not as good as the Jack La Lanne Juicer, it was pretty damn good.

The tour people picked me up at about 8:30A to take me to see some temples. WHOA, these aren't like the temples I've ever seen (i.e. Temple Israel, HERJC, and Emanuel) These are gold, and mirrored, and mosaic looking and they all have giant Buddah's in them. Some buddah's are standing, some buddah's are sitting, some buddah's are laying down, and they all do have one thing in common - mangy looking dogs and cats looking like they haven't eaten in years sauntering around hoping some tourist or a friendly monk will drop a crumb. These temples are insane.

This next little paragraph is for the fans of The Amazing Race.....remember in Season 5 when the Guido's did the fast forward in Bangkok where they had to take a small dish of coins and drop one coin in each of the 108 pots next to the reclining buddah - some dishes of coins had more than 108, some had less, and they had to keep doing it over and over until they found a dish with the exact 108 coins. Well for the fans who really do remember, I did that task today today and I think it's the closest I'm going to get to getting on the race! Now I just need to find the island where they filmed Survivor Thailand and my trip will be complete!

From there, we went to the GRAND PALACE. Once again, more gold, more mosaic, more glitz, and more buddah's. I was in and out of there in not much more time than it took me to see the Sistine Chapel back in 1989. At this point, the sun was UP. The sun was HOT. The humidity had risen past the 4000% mark and Mahco was sweating his ass off. I was walking and came across what seemed to be a nice restaurant on the river and decided to treat myself to a good lunch. I had a great apple freeze drink, a bottle of water and a hot and spicy lemongrass soup with prawns. I could have opted for the chicken but I splurged and had the prawns. I was slightly pissed at myself but did it anyway. The bill came out to 198 Baht which if you all take out your calculators can figure out that it's about $5.20. If I had the chicken in the soup, it would have been $3.60. I'm now over my food budget for the day.

I decided to walk around a bit and find my way to Koh San Road (sp?). For those who don't know, it's hard to explain. They call it "Backpackers Row". Some call it sleeze row. Some call it the place to be. It's riddled with shops on the sidewalks, in the alleys, and there is more crap to buy than I have ever seen before. I have decided not to buy ANYTHING until I return to Bangkok at the end of March before I come home. Not really sure at this point I will EVER come home and once I see the islands, that may be confirmed. Back to Ko San Road....there are banners flying from every building with advertisements. Mostly, it's all Western stuff so the hoards of tourists feel at home there. Every 3 steps, there's another restaurant, shop, or Guesthouse. Guesthouses here are what some may call Bed and Breakfasts but are really more like Hostels. The Shanti Lodge is a guesthouse. I'm in a room with my own shower but I need to use a public toilet. There is also an option of staying in a DORM type room which has about 10 bunkbeds in it.

I walked around Ko San ROad for a while. I stopped at a Juice Stand and met Tammy from Minneapolis. She's a flight attendant on United and has a goal to see 100 countries so this trip is Thailand and Cambodia. She may pop into Burma for a day so she can add that one to her list. We talked over our juice and made a plan to meet in Chang Mai on Saturday. We walked around some more and then parted ways. I walked back to the Shanti Lodge (about 40 minutes) and am sitting in the Air Conditioned Internet Cafe updating my blog. Not sure what tonight holds in store yet. I may head over to Ko San ROad for some cheap food and beer. I'll keep you posted.........

P.S. When I landed on Saturday night, I changed $200 US DOLLARS to Thai Baht. With all I've done so far, including hotels and food, and my 2 tours, bottled water every few minutes to keep me hydrated I still have about $84 left.

Day 1 - Sunday, February 13 - Bangkok

I finally got to bed a little after 3AM. I wasn't very tired being that I slept most of the plane rides for the previous 20 hours.

I woke up at 6:15AM thanks to my handy travel alarm clock that the nice man at Magellan's talked me into buying. I showered and went downstairs for breakfast. There were some strange things on the buffet so I played it safe on my first day. I just had some toast and jelly, Pad Thai Chicken and some egg and noodle stuff. It was all really good.

The lady from the tour picked me up at 7:30AM for the boat ride. It seemed touristy and cheesy at first but it was GREAT. I'm so thankful I did it cause I would never have seen that side of Bangkok and the surrounding areas on my own. Along the way, we stopped at the Zoo and a local market. My pictures will really have to explain the sights. Those will come at a later date as will some more postings. My session is about to expire and not sure I want to pay another 10 baht (.35-.40 cents, haven't mastered the money yet) for another 30 minutes of internet time. Remember, this is a budget trip!

I just checked out of the Trang Hotel and headed over to the Shanti Lodge. I'll stay here for the next 2 nights until I head up to Chiang Mai. Like my friend Dylan, who stayed here in November, I splurged for a room with Air Con (as the Thai say) and it's a whopping 450 Baht. Do the math - it's about $12 a night. The A/C added $2.50 a night so I decided to splurge and go for the whole $12. This place doesnt encourage the use of toilet paper.....rather the use of a spray hose that sits beside the toilet. They say, "try it and you'll want one when you go back home" but I'll head over to 7-11 to get some Thai Charmin as soon as I'm done typing. I believe that's all for now. Tomorrow, I wake up early again and go to see some temples with some giant golden buddah's.

P.S. It's great to get an early start as it gets pretty toasty around noonish. They talk celcius here so I have no idea what the temp is......HOWEVER, one doesn't have to be a brain surgeon to tell that there's about 10000% humidity. My guess is that it's about 90 degrees and my pits will attest that it's HUMID as HUMID can be.

Hung close to the SHANTI tonight. Was still suffering from a bit of Jet Lag and was pretty tired. Walked around the local markets and took in the sights. One can't believe the amounts and the kinds of food that the street vendors are selling. I am very tempted to try it all but I need to take it slowly. For now, I will stay away from the rotting fish and raw meats that are swarming with flies. Have no fear though, I will be eating it all by trips end. After a beer at about 5PM, I crashed hard. I slept pretty well (on and off - I think I may have heard Arlo crying throughout the night).

Flight to Thailand

I leave for Bangkok tomororw. I'm on ANA (Air Nippon Airways) Flight #5 departing Los Angeles at 11:35AM. After 11 hours and 30 minutes of flying, I'm due to land in Tokyo at 4:05PM on Saturday, February 12th.

I then take ANA #915 departing Tokyo at 5:35PM and 7 and a half hours later, I arrive in Bangkok at 10:55PM (Saturday, February 12th).

I'll try to update this as often as possible.

I wish I could write every thought and every experience so far but I guess I'll just highlight. The 11.5 hour flight to Tokyo was uneventful. I slept on and off for most of it. The middle seat between me and the guy on the aisle was empty so that made it a helluva lot better. They served a few meals, lots o drinks, and I watched a few movies and some episodes of Everyone loves Raymond and Tom and Jerry. Thanks to Sandra Dee, I bought some AIRBORNE and popped those every few hours. The layover in Tokyo was only 1.5 hours so I browsed in the Duty Free shop and bought nothing. The 7.5 hour flight from Tokyo to Thailand, although shorter than the first leg, wasn't as comfortable. The plane was smaller and I had someone sitting next to me. It was hard to get comfortable. The movies were the same as the first leg, the few episodes of Everyone Loves Raymond and Tom and Jerry were also the same. I finally landed in Bangkok at 11PM Saturday. I went through customs and found a nice lady at a hotel kiosk who took care of me for the night. Within minutes, I had a room at the Trang Hotel with my own shower, complimentary breakfast and a free Boat Tour of the river for the following morning. I got a taxi, and arrived at the Trang. Needless to say, I wasn't very tired so I re-organized my backpack, got settled, and started to read "The Beach". I know, very cliche but when in Thailand.....