what I did this weekend

pictures from underwater film camera have finally been posted

view the whole set here.

yesterday was our last day in bangkok, and becky’s brother, bob, and his friend john finally caught up to us around 2pm, 12 hours before we caught our flight out. Unlike us, bob and john actually learned a bit og thai, and became very good at chatting up strangers with bits of their silliness. The most striking thing about john and bob in thailand is their height. They are both well over 6 feet tall, and in relative terms, they are giants in thailand. Americans always stand out in thailand, but in a sea of american hippie backpackers, these guys stand out in an almost freakish way. unsuspecting vendors would approach with the usual push of crap bracelets, t-shirts, or factory reject silk scarves. John would fire back with an almost intimidating if it weren’t so jovial style of bartering that worked like magic. While I hestitated in the corners wondering if I was breaking the rules of engagement, john seemed to be making his own rules, and since he knew just enough thai to crack jokes along the way, the sellers were always compelled to meet his demands. Bob and john together were and unstoppable force blowing through the market with their oversized knock-off north face duffle slung like a knapsack, these giants got good at returning stares with smiles. From the cab, bob would make faces at the girls on the street that got caught looking at us. she played back by sticking a french fry up her nose. some things are universal I guess.

overall, it was great to finally see these guys. Meeting up with friends and family in a foreign place after seeing so many strangers is a rare treat. We had such different journeys, but in a few short hours, we were able to create a shared memory that has made me appreciate my travels even more.

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becky and I left the boys at the night bazaar around 9:30. after a few unsuccessful attempts, we finally found a taxi driver willing to take us across town to our guesthouse. Bangkok is all lit up right now in celebration of the king’s birthday. It’s like the forth of july, except it’s lasting all week. There was a huge parade and royal appearance at the palace very near our guesthouse. The rediculous Bangkok traffic was even worse than usual, and nobody wanted to waste time going that far, at least not with stubborn americans that wouldn’t be suckered into paying triple fair for the journey.

we made it back to the guesthouse by 10. I took my last cold shower in the shared bath area, threw on a recently purchased t-shirt (clean for once), and rearranged luggage before we jumped in the “Shanti Taxi” for the airport. The taxi was a plain back car driven by someone who seemed like a brother-in-law or cousin of the guesthouse owners. He was definitely not a regular driver, as he was not running red lights or speeding through alleys like the rest. But, we got to the airport in plenty of time for our 1:50 flight.

my last bit of asian noodle soup turned out to be ramen noodles, but it was good to eat before getting on the plane. The 6 hour flight to seoul was smooth, and I was really only awake for about 15 minutes when food was served.

9am arrival in seoul, with our flight to seattle at 6:30. Luckily there is a nice transit lounge here with free internet access. But, now I’m distracted by a huge Samsung plasma display directly over my shoulder blaring Titanic with Korean subtitles.

3 hours left to wait. I’m anxious to see my dog. Thanks for the comments and emails. See you all soon.

We hit Bangkok airport for the 3rd time, and we finally made it outside. We’re staying at a beautiful little guesthouse called Shanti Lodge. The tuk-tuk drivers here are scammers, but we’re staying one step ahead, saw the royal palace and the emerald buddha, and now we’re at the mega mall MBK which is absolutely huge. Most of the stores are more like little stalls, and now we’re on the 6th floor next to the video arcade checking our email on the fastest internet connections we’ve seen yet. Of course, I don’t have the cable I need to upload pictures, but we’ll be home in a couple days anyway.

So far we’ve avoided the backpacker mecca of Khoasan Road, but I’m just way too curious not to venture by there on our way back to the guesthouse tonight. We may hit the night market later, but overall we’re taking it easy. Nothing much else to report, as our travels our winding down. If anybody wants any fake Diesel jeans, let me know.

We are about to head back to Bangkok after two days in Siem Reap. I feel like we’ve spent a week here as it’s been so packed with activity. We arrived late on whatever day two nights ago was, and some motorbike taxis took us from guesthouse to guesthouse looking for a room. The same two guys took us on a tour of the temples yesterday morning starting with angkor wat at sunrise.

I have done so much that is beyond words. Ancient temples, cambodian weddings and a funeral, sugar cane candies, elphant rides, good food, dirty streets, land mine victim musical groups, land mine victim beggars, motorbikes, tuk-tuks, tazer guns, rice fields, crodiles, catfish, and even a small vietnamese boy and a puppy paddling across a large lake in a wash tub.

Did I mention that everybody uses US dollars here. But there are conveniently no coins (can’t change them). Cambodian knuckle massage by blind man, 3 dollar. Guide book that has a $27.95 price tag on it, 5 dollar.

Our tuk-tuk driver is watching TV behind us while he waits for us to finish with the Internet so he can take us to the airport to fly back to Bangkok. Must go now.

So, it’s been three nights here on this penisula, and we’re getting a flight out of Krabi this afternoon to take us to Bangkok. From there, we will hop another plane to Siem Reap in cambodia where we will stay two nights. Siem Reap is the town from which we can explore angkor wat. I hear it’s a bit different in Cambodia. Thai Baht and US Dollars are the standard currency, and when out among the temples, we must stay on clearly marked trails in order to avoid land mines. The town of siem reap is supposedly safe to walk around at night, and it’s small enough that you can see the whole city in an hour and never get lost. Like portland, there’s a major street running east west, and a river through the middle of the city going north south.

Enough talk about where we are going. Maybe I should save that for after we return from Cambodia. There is no Internet there, so we will update email and web posts when we return to Bangkok.

Yesterday we rented a kayak again, and snorkelled in many of the same spots we did the day before. But, this time it was a bit sunnier, and we were able to see much deeper. I saw all kinds of fish down there, so hopefully the underwater camera we borrowed will work out, and we will have pictures to share when we get back home.

Almost time to go meet the water taxi to get us back to Krabi.

Click on pictures for larger size and descriptions…

took a nice big boat from phangan to surrat-thani, then an overcrowded bus for four hours to krabi, 3 person for 2 seat, and ticket collector didn’t believe we paid, but they let us go anyway. It’s not like I couldn’t have paid the 2 dollars again, but it’s principle, made it to hat rai lay after truck from krabi to ao nong and ‘long boat’ to this bit of penisula where no cars can get beyond the massive limestone cliffs. While the islands were a haven for scuba divers, this is the rock climbing capital of thailand. everytime I stop to wonder at the insane vertical, I see a bit of human dangling from ropes.

becky and i stuck to the sea and snorkelled finally in beautiful still water from wherever we could paddle our litle sea canoe. colorful fishes, mostly small, sea urchin, coral, and gorgeous rock formatinos that made paddling exciting as we dodged stalagtites in the bits of sea cave.

3 baht per minute here, and everything is expensive, so we just went with the flow and got an overpriced room next to the overpriced restaurant, and it’s still relatively cheap compared to home. the seafood is amazing here, sea bass (whole) and a bucket of steamed mussels for dinner last night. Maybe I’ll finally try the barracuda, but those teeth make me nervous.

Sorry no way to send pictures yet, but hopefully soon. not sure where we are going next. we are staying here at least another night to do more snorkelling tomorrow, maybe have a boat take us to the more remote rocks.

The seas were choppy today, and we decided to wait until morning to take the big boat to Suratthani. Much to report, but little time to type.

Yesterday: rented a motor bike and took in the island with a bit more freedom, hiked up a waterfall, visited various beach fronts to take in the views. Riding motorbikes is not really that hard. After a wobbly start, I was good. With becky on the back, I was a bit nervous, but we are safe. Maybe I can finalyl live down the stories from the moped incident in Florence. We ended the day with massages in our bungalo given by an old couple together right on the floor of our bungalo. I don’t think I’ve ever really had a massage like that before. Parts of me are still recovering. Incredible.

Today, just wandering in the rain, waiting for tomorrows ferry. Then a bus to Krabi on the other coast.

I keep forgetting it’s Thanksgiving. Sorry I can’t be there with friends and family.

We spent a night in the bit of strip called Lamai on the eastern shore of Ko Samui. Becky ate most of white snapper that she got to pick from the bucket of ice before it was steamed. Once again, Becky and I managed to find ourselves in a remote spot full of Germans. As we left the restaurant, the proprietor bowed a friendly vielen dank.

Taxi to pier, and breakfast with australians next door to the building that houses the only decompression chamber in these islands. Two eggs on toast, mine soft, becky’s well done. We were headed to ko tao, but after a few hours wait, we discover we should have booked the tickets in advance. We can only go to Phangan.

Now, Phangan is where everyone told us to go, but most ay in the south where they have parties on the occasion of the full moon that bring out the worst in twenty-somethings from all over the globe. We were planning on skipping this island, and heading straight to ko tao for diving, but we take what we can get.

The boat was a “hi-speed” catamaran that skipped over 8 foot swells with a sickening urgency. we were anxious to get off the boat and grateful for the short trip to phangan instead of the hour and a half to ko tao. But, then, about 15 minutes towards the next island, there was a man standing in a small boat waving his arms. No sail, and apparently a broken motor. Our boat pulled along side, and the man came aboard while the crw tied a line to his little boat. From there, our high-speed journey ended as we slowly towed the man’s broken vessel to phangan.

Once ashore, a crew of wisened songthaew drivers shuttled us into the backs of their converted pickups to take us where we needed to go. We were hoping to check out bottle beach in the north, as far from the other backpackers as possible. The plan was to hitch up to this pier in the north where we could catch a boat around the peninsula to bottle beach. But, the seas were too high and choppy, and no boats were running. We got off near the pier anyway along with another slightly lost german couple. There wasn’t much to see, but they went and found motor bikes and sped off to the hills looking for a bungalo while we walked out the pier to survey the coast.

We ended up with a 200 baht bungalo right on the beach, complete with mosquito net. There is a front porch with a hammock overlooking the stray dogs and palm trees, and the bathroom that is attached has no roof. This sounds bad, but it is actually the most charming and peaceful place I can imagine.

We spent the afternoon reading and enjoying the sound of the surf, and then as the sun set we decided to take a walk along the streets that seemed so deserted just 6 hours earlier. It’s hard to tell the storefronts from the homes here, as so many buildings serve both purposes. This may be a touristy place in a few months, but right now we visitors are not yet the focus of everyones attention as we were on Samui.

True to the guide books, everywhere there is Internet. If anyone is reading this, send me an email or leave a comment on this page. Hope you are all doing well.