Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
More random travelling pics
5-10: Did the hospital thing again today. I was feeling better so I had hopes my blood count would be up, but it wasn't, which means another day here unfortunately. Watched the last english movie in the city: Passengers. Had dinner at an indian place across from an american expat who used to live in the philippines but now here in penang. He's a financial writer and was full of bad doom and gloom news about the US economy and other things related to the US. Though he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. He showed me his articles where several years ago he had predicted the collapse of lehman brothers and citi group. He told me when I get back home I should put all my savings into gold. He said by 2010 the us economy will be completely crashed and inflation will be huge and I'll probably be living in Asia if I'm smart. He asked me which world stock market had the biggest positive increase in the last 5 years. I didn't know. He said Zimbabwe. Increased 1000%, but inflation rose 100,000%.
5-11: Another long day at the hospital. Blood levels even lower today. Finally found a hospital that has the rabies vaccine, but they won't give it to me while my platelets are low. Moved into a nicer hotel that doesn't reek like smoke and doesn't have a bathroom that is 200 feet down the hall (one of the affects of this disease appears to be terrible bladder). Very, very, very, very, very tired of doing this hospital thing. SO much waiting in this cramped hospital. It can be kind of freaky too b/c you see some of the strangest peoples and diseases you can think of and of course there is the paranoia of swine flu. The hospital is an interesting place, half of it is open air and it's right next to a huge prison and prisoners are often seen being drug through it for their hospital visits are whatever. THe hospital, like the city is very multi cultural full of Indian, Malay, and Chinese doctors, nurses, and patients. I saw a current map up of swine flu. The US had more than half of the cases of swine flu and mexico had about 1/3, but of the 58 deaths reported, the US had only 3. Statistically that's astonishing. We can have over 1/2 the cases but 5% of the deaths. Makes you really appreciate our hospitals. Obviously our nutrition and lifestyle has a lot to do with the amount of deaths, but I was also thinking that if I was really sick with the flu and had to go through the rigamaroll they have here, I would probably get sick too with how tiring it is (I did have the added issue of trying find another hospital for rabies). THe hospitals I've been to in the US, which are few (Estes Park, Longmont, Sun Valley, and Vail) have all been so quick and smooth that you're on your way back to bed to recover in no time. But not here. I leave my guesthouse at 8am and don't get back til at least 3pm, not really eating the whole time and only drinking water. Moved itno a nicer hotel from my nasty, dumpy guesthouse that stinks of smoke, has no sheets (usually not a problem in the tropics, but when you have a fever)
5-12: FInally showed improvements in my WBC and platelet counts. Celebrated with an overdose of ice cream. Took the ferry to butterworth again to buy my bus ticket. Went to an interesting chinese food night market where there are food stalls surrounding a stage and dance floor. Some of the chinese couples on the stage could really move to ballroom swing.
5-13: Getting my rabies shot and then going to Pulau Perhentian (perhentian islands; pulau=island) on an overnight bus. I think I've had more needles in me here in asia than I've had all my time back home. Hopefully from here on out I can stay away from biting creatures
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Jungle Fever
May 7 I explored georgetown on pulau penang Walked to the sea front, checked out the old british colonial area and their forts. Checked out little india and chinatown and of course the food there. Went to the baba nonya area for dinner and just had a good time eating lots of cheap food. I love Indian food so I ate quite a bit of that and they also have lots of lassis and cow's milk tea and warm cows milk, which I of course was a big fan of. Everyone here as been really nice, which has be great for sure. As a muslim country it's quite conservative and some of the signs you see are quite interesting. Like one at a massage place that said any muslim men receiving massages from a female will receive at least five years of jail. Possessing drugs here carries the death penalty. A few days ago an Australian on one of the islands was caught with some marijuana and he was sentenced to death. The australians are all up in arms that there government won't step in, but it is clearly outlined in the visa and entry papers and all guidebooks mention it. Because muslims don't drink, beer is quite expensive here. The same can of chang that costs 50 cents in thailand, costs 3 dollars here
I was still feeling a bit under the weather and feverish and to make sure I didn't have malaria I went to the government hospital to get tested, which involves taking some blood samples and looking for the parasite. I came out negative, which was good, but I had quite low WBC and platelet counts, so they said I had dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever b/c of how bad the aches and pains are. The doctor was quite surprised I was able to make the border trip from thailand to penang with the fever and with no pain killers (with my bags at the bottom of the bus), and then of course touring around the day before. Then she really felt sorry for me when I pulled out my rabies vaccine card and said I needed a shot for that as I'm onto my last of the series for my rabies vaccines.
Today I went back to the hospital to get my blood tested again. My platelet count had fallen even further so they said I shouldn't leave (I had a bus ticket purchased for tonights overnight bus) and need to come back tomorrow, b/c if my count drops below 100x10^3 (it's now at 112, down from 135 yesterday), they'll have to admit me to the hospital and give me a transfusion. It also meant I couldn't get my last rabies vaccine b/c of the danger of bleeding too much with the shot. So not exactly having much fun now b/c I don't feel the best, and going to the hospital is a full day ordeal b/c of all the lines, the transport getting there, and the waiting for the tests and I would rather be spending my time in the islands where I had wanted to be 2 days ago. Did go and see the new x-men movie yesterday, but that's about the only fun thing I've done the last few days
I was still feeling a bit under the weather and feverish and to make sure I didn't have malaria I went to the government hospital to get tested, which involves taking some blood samples and looking for the parasite. I came out negative, which was good, but I had quite low WBC and platelet counts, so they said I had dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever b/c of how bad the aches and pains are. The doctor was quite surprised I was able to make the border trip from thailand to penang with the fever and with no pain killers (with my bags at the bottom of the bus), and then of course touring around the day before. Then she really felt sorry for me when I pulled out my rabies vaccine card and said I needed a shot for that as I'm onto my last of the series for my rabies vaccines.
Today I went back to the hospital to get my blood tested again. My platelet count had fallen even further so they said I shouldn't leave (I had a bus ticket purchased for tonights overnight bus) and need to come back tomorrow, b/c if my count drops below 100x10^3 (it's now at 112, down from 135 yesterday), they'll have to admit me to the hospital and give me a transfusion. It also meant I couldn't get my last rabies vaccine b/c of the danger of bleeding too much with the shot. So not exactly having much fun now b/c I don't feel the best, and going to the hospital is a full day ordeal b/c of all the lines, the transport getting there, and the waiting for the tests and I would rather be spending my time in the islands where I had wanted to be 2 days ago. Did go and see the new x-men movie yesterday, but that's about the only fun thing I've done the last few days
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Across the border to Malaysia...but where!? (and some travel observations)
With the weather worsening and the southwest monsoons moving in (may is supposedly the start), I figured it was time to move to Malaysia. So yesterday I took a van to get to Malaysia. The ticket I booked was to go to Alor Setar (pronounced allostar) and then east to Kuala Besut. There are 4 entries into malaysia from thailand. One by boat to langkawi island, and expensive resort island I didn't want to go to, one on the east coast which although it is not far from where I wanted to go in malaysia is considered extremely dangerous b/c of extremist muslim thais fighting and bombing buddhist thais for independance. So that left the 2 borders on the west and then I would just have to travel a ways east to get to where I'm going. You first go to hat yai thailand, which has been the sight of previous unrest and although the books say is not overly dangerous, that you should keep an eye out in the news for current events. It appeared safe so I headed there, b/c the other option is to go back to bangkok, fly to kuala lumpur and then go back north.
The day started out poorly b/c I was quite sick. Had a very high fever, chills, and muscle cramps, which although painful, maybe worse was hoping it was just a common flu and not yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever, SARS, bird flu, japanese encephalitis or whatever b/c in s. thailand the mosquitos no matter what you do are unavoidable (you can't put repllant on your bum as you use the squat toilets!). I met a nice teacher on the bus that helped me get to the right place in had yai. The bus restops were quite amusing b/c they had areas for buddhists and areas for muslims and muslim food and buddhist food. At hat yai I booked a van to alor setar and then on to khota bahru which is close to kuala besut. Well, after crossing the border (thankfully they didn't quarentine me as an north american for swine flu as they did to people who had been in thailand for less time than me) and several hours later and at 10pm, we arrived at Georgetown on penang island on the west coast...the complete opposite of where I wanted to be!!! I pleaded my case to the thai driver, but in typical thai fashion he just drove off. So there I was lost, not really knowing where I was (until I asked someone), feeling quite sick, in a completely new and foreign country and all by myself. In the end it didn't turn out too bad other than I lost a fair amount of money in bus tickets b/c georgetown is quite nice with a heavy trading influence if chinese, malay, british, indian, sri lankan, and baba nonya so the food is great and cheap and the town has a bit of charm to it. So I decided to stay a day here and gorge on good food (after taking lots of tylenol to feel better) after the fast in s. thailand and check out little india, chinatown, and the different malay areas and colonial areas. I also needed to do a few shopping things: toothpaste (yes its halal!), a new watch (I've tried filipino, thai, lets see how long malay lasts), and hit the internet big time. But the food is great here!! I LOVE indian food and lassis, and chai tea, and they have steamed cow's milk, and tasty mango lassis which are much better than the fruit shake which is just fruit and ice. And this guy makes a huge burger for 50 cents with a fried egg wrapped around it! Yum. I really like it here. It's of course mainly muslim here, and for some reason I've always like muslim cities (don't tell my father). Zanzibar and Marrakech are two of my favorite. They have a different smell and feel. Although this place doesn't have the narrow winding alleys of zanzibar and marrakech it still has a cool feeling. The run down place I'm staying with is right above a bakery so good smells come out of that, which I smelled early this morning as I couldn't sleep really with my fever.
Tonight I have plans to check out the little india bazaar as well as the baba nonya area.
So just a few random thoughts and not very detailed or anything on thailand, the philippines, burma, and malaysia.
The burmese were the nicest (though most shy) so far, but in my 2 days here, the malay people are a close second. The Malaysian people are so friendly and they don't do the touting and such that they do everywhere in thailand and some areas in the philippines. I loved the filipinos too. They were very nice as well, extremely outgoing and always up for fun. They also know english so well that they're easy to talk to and you're never lonely by yourself there. It has been quite refreshing to come to malaysia from thailand as the malays have been extremely nice (and example would be walking 5 minutes around the city by a security guard to show me what I was looking for as opposed to giving an annoyed look like the thais). It's almost japanesque in their friendliness and helpfulness. The people selling stuff on the streets don't yell at you to buy stuff, but instead strike up a normal conversation. Some taxi drivers (in thailand when you walk by them..."hey, you! you! where you go! and they follow you") I walked by politely asked if I needed a ride and then helped me figure out how to get to a place by bus for cheaper. Then one guy peered into my eyes and put his hand on my forehead and asked if I was sick. I was taken by surprise as I am actually sick, but when he started laughing, I realized it was a swine flu joke after telling him I was from america. So yes quite refreshing to be here.
I don't know if I was in thailand too long, or it truly is the people, but I had become increasingly annoyed by the thais. The truth is most of the thais are really nice. Like the teacher on the bus, or the girls on vacation I had some beers with, or the majority of the people I met in the north, or all the thais visiting the national park. The thais who I don't particularly care for are the ones that work directly with the tourists. Now that could very well be a reflection of the tourists themselves (and in my opinion the "springbreak" feel the europeans often bring to the beaches all full of boozing and sex isn't the best thing), but I have worked in tourism for a long time and I am still very friendly and although I may make jokes at home, I do genuinely like most tourists I meet (unless of course they are nebraskans). I found travelling in the north much better of thailand and I think that has a lot to do with it's more real thais up there. On these little islands, the only thais that really live there are related directly to tourism. Of course you do meet some nice guesthouse people and others, but overall you get an impression of being bothered, cheated, etc from them. The problem is the south is so gorgeous compared to the north, but the north is much more cultural and friendly. In the end in souther thailand i think I grew quite weary b/c I'd go see the sites, which were stunning, but then be frustrated by the rest.
In my opinion, tourism has ruined thailand, especially southern thailand. Because I think it's made the people there less friendly and only working for the baht, its caused heaps of trash everywhere, complete destruction of beach front areas where bungalows are overcrowded over everything. The economy relies completely on tourism, which takes a huge hit when say the airport is closed, there are riots in bangkok, the prime minister has an assassination attempt, or the world economy drops. They've also become too upclass, so instead of the more chill backpacker crowd, you're getting the crazy inebriated, do what I want party crowd. But...with that said, it is completely gorgeous, even when a thousand bodies lie on the sand (lots of the european women being topless which is in a highly muslim and conservative south is quite rude to the locals in my opinion, considering they usually wear full cover but are required to cover the knees and elbows, even when swimming), or hundreds of boats sit in the bays. The philippines is gorgeous, but not near so as thailand (el nido comes close), but in the philippines it is much easier to find beaches to yourself, or beaches with rainforest coming right up to the beach instead of bungalows, there's not techno blasting all night long. Things are much more pristine there. I can only imagine what thailand must have looked like a ways back when it was pristine b/c it is still quite incredible. Whey people haven't discovered the PI yet, I don't know. Maybe b/c you have to fly there from the mainland, or it's too american for the euros or whatever. Would I visit thailand again? Yes, b/c it is so gorgeous, but I think I would want to go with friends and partake in the parties a little more. I was there on a scenic journey, but I think half the fun of thailand is the wildness that has become of it. So yes, I did really enjoy thailand (and it's so long ago it's not much in my memory, but the north was very nice, friendly, and not so touristy, it's just that the south is fresh in my mind), and it's scenery, and most of its people, but it is good to move on now I think, I am ready, and I hope the malaysians are all like they are in georgetown penang.
Just a funny note I was thinking of about the filipinos. There hello is a nod up of the heads and raising of the eyebrows, not a wave. I figure this is because there hands are too occupied: either texting, driving a motorcycle, holding a baby, a stroking their rooster (I could have used their word, but at the risk of too much of a sexual iunendo), or a combination of it.
The day started out poorly b/c I was quite sick. Had a very high fever, chills, and muscle cramps, which although painful, maybe worse was hoping it was just a common flu and not yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever, SARS, bird flu, japanese encephalitis or whatever b/c in s. thailand the mosquitos no matter what you do are unavoidable (you can't put repllant on your bum as you use the squat toilets!). I met a nice teacher on the bus that helped me get to the right place in had yai. The bus restops were quite amusing b/c they had areas for buddhists and areas for muslims and muslim food and buddhist food. At hat yai I booked a van to alor setar and then on to khota bahru which is close to kuala besut. Well, after crossing the border (thankfully they didn't quarentine me as an north american for swine flu as they did to people who had been in thailand for less time than me) and several hours later and at 10pm, we arrived at Georgetown on penang island on the west coast...the complete opposite of where I wanted to be!!! I pleaded my case to the thai driver, but in typical thai fashion he just drove off. So there I was lost, not really knowing where I was (until I asked someone), feeling quite sick, in a completely new and foreign country and all by myself. In the end it didn't turn out too bad other than I lost a fair amount of money in bus tickets b/c georgetown is quite nice with a heavy trading influence if chinese, malay, british, indian, sri lankan, and baba nonya so the food is great and cheap and the town has a bit of charm to it. So I decided to stay a day here and gorge on good food (after taking lots of tylenol to feel better) after the fast in s. thailand and check out little india, chinatown, and the different malay areas and colonial areas. I also needed to do a few shopping things: toothpaste (yes its halal!), a new watch (I've tried filipino, thai, lets see how long malay lasts), and hit the internet big time. But the food is great here!! I LOVE indian food and lassis, and chai tea, and they have steamed cow's milk, and tasty mango lassis which are much better than the fruit shake which is just fruit and ice. And this guy makes a huge burger for 50 cents with a fried egg wrapped around it! Yum. I really like it here. It's of course mainly muslim here, and for some reason I've always like muslim cities (don't tell my father). Zanzibar and Marrakech are two of my favorite. They have a different smell and feel. Although this place doesn't have the narrow winding alleys of zanzibar and marrakech it still has a cool feeling. The run down place I'm staying with is right above a bakery so good smells come out of that, which I smelled early this morning as I couldn't sleep really with my fever.
Tonight I have plans to check out the little india bazaar as well as the baba nonya area.
So just a few random thoughts and not very detailed or anything on thailand, the philippines, burma, and malaysia.
The burmese were the nicest (though most shy) so far, but in my 2 days here, the malay people are a close second. The Malaysian people are so friendly and they don't do the touting and such that they do everywhere in thailand and some areas in the philippines. I loved the filipinos too. They were very nice as well, extremely outgoing and always up for fun. They also know english so well that they're easy to talk to and you're never lonely by yourself there. It has been quite refreshing to come to malaysia from thailand as the malays have been extremely nice (and example would be walking 5 minutes around the city by a security guard to show me what I was looking for as opposed to giving an annoyed look like the thais). It's almost japanesque in their friendliness and helpfulness. The people selling stuff on the streets don't yell at you to buy stuff, but instead strike up a normal conversation. Some taxi drivers (in thailand when you walk by them..."hey, you! you! where you go! and they follow you") I walked by politely asked if I needed a ride and then helped me figure out how to get to a place by bus for cheaper. Then one guy peered into my eyes and put his hand on my forehead and asked if I was sick. I was taken by surprise as I am actually sick, but when he started laughing, I realized it was a swine flu joke after telling him I was from america. So yes quite refreshing to be here.
I don't know if I was in thailand too long, or it truly is the people, but I had become increasingly annoyed by the thais. The truth is most of the thais are really nice. Like the teacher on the bus, or the girls on vacation I had some beers with, or the majority of the people I met in the north, or all the thais visiting the national park. The thais who I don't particularly care for are the ones that work directly with the tourists. Now that could very well be a reflection of the tourists themselves (and in my opinion the "springbreak" feel the europeans often bring to the beaches all full of boozing and sex isn't the best thing), but I have worked in tourism for a long time and I am still very friendly and although I may make jokes at home, I do genuinely like most tourists I meet (unless of course they are nebraskans). I found travelling in the north much better of thailand and I think that has a lot to do with it's more real thais up there. On these little islands, the only thais that really live there are related directly to tourism. Of course you do meet some nice guesthouse people and others, but overall you get an impression of being bothered, cheated, etc from them. The problem is the south is so gorgeous compared to the north, but the north is much more cultural and friendly. In the end in souther thailand i think I grew quite weary b/c I'd go see the sites, which were stunning, but then be frustrated by the rest.
In my opinion, tourism has ruined thailand, especially southern thailand. Because I think it's made the people there less friendly and only working for the baht, its caused heaps of trash everywhere, complete destruction of beach front areas where bungalows are overcrowded over everything. The economy relies completely on tourism, which takes a huge hit when say the airport is closed, there are riots in bangkok, the prime minister has an assassination attempt, or the world economy drops. They've also become too upclass, so instead of the more chill backpacker crowd, you're getting the crazy inebriated, do what I want party crowd. But...with that said, it is completely gorgeous, even when a thousand bodies lie on the sand (lots of the european women being topless which is in a highly muslim and conservative south is quite rude to the locals in my opinion, considering they usually wear full cover but are required to cover the knees and elbows, even when swimming), or hundreds of boats sit in the bays. The philippines is gorgeous, but not near so as thailand (el nido comes close), but in the philippines it is much easier to find beaches to yourself, or beaches with rainforest coming right up to the beach instead of bungalows, there's not techno blasting all night long. Things are much more pristine there. I can only imagine what thailand must have looked like a ways back when it was pristine b/c it is still quite incredible. Whey people haven't discovered the PI yet, I don't know. Maybe b/c you have to fly there from the mainland, or it's too american for the euros or whatever. Would I visit thailand again? Yes, b/c it is so gorgeous, but I think I would want to go with friends and partake in the parties a little more. I was there on a scenic journey, but I think half the fun of thailand is the wildness that has become of it. So yes, I did really enjoy thailand (and it's so long ago it's not much in my memory, but the north was very nice, friendly, and not so touristy, it's just that the south is fresh in my mind), and it's scenery, and most of its people, but it is good to move on now I think, I am ready, and I hope the malaysians are all like they are in georgetown penang.
Just a funny note I was thinking of about the filipinos. There hello is a nod up of the heads and raising of the eyebrows, not a wave. I figure this is because there hands are too occupied: either texting, driving a motorcycle, holding a baby, a stroking their rooster (I could have used their word, but at the risk of too much of a sexual iunendo), or a combination of it.
hanging on in Krabi
5-2: Took a boat from Phi Phi to Krabi town then a bus to ao nong, then a longtail to Rai Leh, which is actually a peninsula with 4 beaches (rai leh west, rai leh east, phrangna, and tonsai) but feels like an island b/c it's completely cut off from the mainland and only accessible by boat. This place would end up being the most expensive place I visited in all of thailand, but one of the more gorgeous. Rai Leh west was quite stunning with it's blond beach and huge karst cliffs on either side. I had paid a little extra that day to take a less direct route to get to rai leh which left at 9am rather than the direct one which left at 4pm. I am very glad I did this b/c it allowed me to explore the area on the only true clear day while I was there, and clear days make a world of difference when it comes to white sand and emerald water. That day I climbed up to a rather stunning viewpoint overlooking rai leh west and tonsai. The huge cliffs are everywhere here and they are riddled with caves. I explored a few of them, but I wished my brother had been there so we could have done so more serious spelunking and rapelling into some of the bigger ones. Coming down from the viewpoint I was just following the cliffs and not the trail so I stumbled across a tennis court. Scaled the fence and found myself inside a crazy fancy resort. It was so huge that it took me a while to get through it, but as far as I could tell I could have had the run of the place at the time. As I got near the exit, a security guide grabbed me and escorted me out. All along the 3 beaches it encompasses they have security guards to make sure beachgoers don't go into the resort, so they were miffed at how I got in. I later found out lots of celebrities stay here and that the highest price room is 3,500 USD per night and the lowest room is 1000USD per night. I ran into two americans randomly, cousins travelling together, and we explored one of the documented caves...by candlelight. Typically the cave is lit by lights inside, but there were none. I'll have to say a little candle does little to help you see inside a cave. Watched the sunset from rai leh west and then went out for a beer with willy and shelly (from tennessee) at this place that had a surprisingly could acoustic guitar player and they ordered us some marijuana spiked hookah.
5-3: Explored all around the peninsual today. It never rained, but it was kind of overcast and windy the whole day from the sw monsoon winds. Hiked to Tonsai beach, which I absolutely loved. If I hadn't been all settled in at rai leh and it wasn't a half hour hike over a small pass, I would have moved there. It was kind of like the thailand I had hoped to find. No one was tanning on the beach...the few people sitting on the beach were doing yoga or medidating and all along the cliffs on the beach people were climbing or bouldering. Everyone was either hippy or definitely outdoorsy, and it wasn't that fancy, european, tanning, boozing crazyness of the other beaches where lots of people pretended to be backpackers b/c they carried backpacks, but they had make-up, several nice shirts, cologne, etc all with them. This was like the true backpacking crowd. I just really liked the vibe. I'd love to come here again sometime with a buddy and hangout and climb and kayak around. After that I hiked to phrangna beach (had monkeys playing around the cave and beach there!) and explored the caves there on either side of the beach and then hiked up a very, very steep trail to another cool viewpoint and then down and even steeper trail where you needed to use ropes to keep from falling to make it down to a really cool hidden lagoon. On the way down with the cliffs and ravines and vegetation it felt like something from the jurassic area (or at least as portrayed by artists in my text books).
5-4: I hiked back to the 2nd viewpoint in the morning b/c it was a bit of a clearer day that day compared to the more dreary weather the day before. Then that afternoon I did a deep water solo climbing program. It's where you climb islands solo (no ropes or harnesses) and if you fall the only thing that stops you is the water. This makes the climbing quite intense b/c if you're 30 or 40 feet up and you fall trying to make a move and land on your back, it's not going to be pleasant. I mean just letting go in a controlled fall from 40 feet is scary enough. We had a late lunch on a cool little beach in the area in the rain and did some bouldering there under the protection of a cave while the two thai captains and leaders got really stoned (and climbed). I met a really nice american couple from phoenix on the trip and unfortnately they were leaving the next day or they would have taken me climbing. Being by myself meant I had to hire a guide to belay me instead of just renting the equipment and going with a partner.
5-5: Cinco de Mayo and swine flu, I suppose. So like I mentioned, I hired a guide and we went off for a day of climbing. We went to three walls (the last two being my favorite) and did 10 climbs, one that was incredibly long and high. The views from the top were always spectacular looking down at the beaches and water from way way up. One cool part was we went climbed up into a cave from phrangna beach walked to the otherside and then rapelled down the other side towards rai leh west to climb the thaiwand wall.
5-3: Explored all around the peninsual today. It never rained, but it was kind of overcast and windy the whole day from the sw monsoon winds. Hiked to Tonsai beach, which I absolutely loved. If I hadn't been all settled in at rai leh and it wasn't a half hour hike over a small pass, I would have moved there. It was kind of like the thailand I had hoped to find. No one was tanning on the beach...the few people sitting on the beach were doing yoga or medidating and all along the cliffs on the beach people were climbing or bouldering. Everyone was either hippy or definitely outdoorsy, and it wasn't that fancy, european, tanning, boozing crazyness of the other beaches where lots of people pretended to be backpackers b/c they carried backpacks, but they had make-up, several nice shirts, cologne, etc all with them. This was like the true backpacking crowd. I just really liked the vibe. I'd love to come here again sometime with a buddy and hangout and climb and kayak around. After that I hiked to phrangna beach (had monkeys playing around the cave and beach there!) and explored the caves there on either side of the beach and then hiked up a very, very steep trail to another cool viewpoint and then down and even steeper trail where you needed to use ropes to keep from falling to make it down to a really cool hidden lagoon. On the way down with the cliffs and ravines and vegetation it felt like something from the jurassic area (or at least as portrayed by artists in my text books).
5-4: I hiked back to the 2nd viewpoint in the morning b/c it was a bit of a clearer day that day compared to the more dreary weather the day before. Then that afternoon I did a deep water solo climbing program. It's where you climb islands solo (no ropes or harnesses) and if you fall the only thing that stops you is the water. This makes the climbing quite intense b/c if you're 30 or 40 feet up and you fall trying to make a move and land on your back, it's not going to be pleasant. I mean just letting go in a controlled fall from 40 feet is scary enough. We had a late lunch on a cool little beach in the area in the rain and did some bouldering there under the protection of a cave while the two thai captains and leaders got really stoned (and climbed). I met a really nice american couple from phoenix on the trip and unfortnately they were leaving the next day or they would have taken me climbing. Being by myself meant I had to hire a guide to belay me instead of just renting the equipment and going with a partner.
5-5: Cinco de Mayo and swine flu, I suppose. So like I mentioned, I hired a guide and we went off for a day of climbing. We went to three walls (the last two being my favorite) and did 10 climbs, one that was incredibly long and high. The views from the top were always spectacular looking down at the beaches and water from way way up. One cool part was we went climbed up into a cave from phrangna beach walked to the otherside and then rapelled down the other side towards rai leh west to climb the thaiwand wall.
Move over Leo and first kiss and I love poland
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but the internet was much much too expensive in the South Islands.
4-28: Took the ferry to Phi Phi Don island and on the way we cruised by Phi Phi Leh island, the island made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio and the beach. Just from the brief look aboard the ferry I could tell it was spectacular with its emerald and turquoise water, shimmering beach and towering limestone cliffs. I checked into a bungalow near the beach at a fairly reasonable price. Good thing it was the low season as it was(100B) 9 dollars a night, but they say in the high season the same one would be (800B) 24 bucks. Luckily for me I got pretty spectacular weather while I was there, so the low season didn't affect me. I hiked up a steep trail to an amazing viewpoint overlooking the cliff filled island with the sand bar connecting two islands with white beaches on either side and gorgeous turqoise water in the bays. One of the more breathtaking sites I have ever seen. Then I met up with a brit and a chilean and we hiked down to a remote beach on the other side with a very fancy resort on it and really only accessible by boat. We swam in the gorgeous water there for a bit and then I poached the resorts nice freshwater pool to get the salt off me before the hike back and to take advantage of the water slide and massage rocks. It was easy to poach...just act like you know what you're doing, confidence as lucas would say. Explored the island after that. Phi Phi Don Island is quite cool. All the structures are pretty much on this little sand bar. There are no cars and no dogs (which was a nice break). Instead cats rule the island and I preferred them much better as they don't chase you, bark at you, or try and bite you, but instead rub up against your legs and ask for a chin scratch. Phi Phi was one of the islands most destroyed by the tsunami as it all just sits on a little sand bar. So now they have warning sirens everywhere and evacuation plans and pavement everywhere. That night I checked out some fire shows on the beach, watched some muy thai fighting and then friend on friend fighting at this bar
4-29 Took a boat tour of Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh where we visited several beaches along phi phi don, did some snorkeling and visited maya bay and beah on phi phi leh (where they filmed the beach; now I've seen khao san road, the waterfall they filmed, the on on guesthouse where they filmed, and this now). The scenery was stupendous! The water so brilliant green, turquoise, and emerald, and the white beach tucked up into the cliffs. Kayaked from the boat to the beach and then walked to the other side where you can go through a small hole at low tide (or climb a ladder) to get to a bay on the other side. After that we also went for a swim at bamboo island. I was glad that I got to see maya bay and go around the two islands, but the tour was quite poor. Too short (only 1 hour to kayak to and explore the famous beach), and just not very good guides, and there were a million people and speed boats parked along the entire length of the beach so it was a bit disappointing. That night I walked up to the viewpoint to read and watch the sunset, and then some vacationing thais at my guesthouse invited me to share some beers with them on their deck.
4-30 I explored the island some more and hiked to long beach. I signed up for an overnight camping tour to stay at maya beach. So at 4 we left for that. First we got to kayak all by ourselves in gorgeous pi leh bay with its aquamarine waters and then do some snorkeling there. Then as a monsoon wind was blowing in (but no rain thankfully) we couldn't enter through maya bay so we docked at the next bay and walked through the hole to get to the otherside of the island and maya beach. It was jaw dropping when we got to the beach! Not a sole there. Just us. Empty sand and empty bay. We swam around and tossed the frisbee and bit and then watched the sunset. We then had some thai food and they gave us all free buckets and free shots of samsung and we played some drinking games, which led us to buying another round of buckets. It was a lot of fun as the group was very cool. Several brits, some canadians who had been in india for a while, and a couple from poland. It was more of my type of people and not the sunworshippers doing the speed boat trips. Eventually the drinking games led to kings cup, and I pulled a make a rule card and my rule was that everyone had to yell I love poland before taking a drink which turned out to be a riot as the polish people just loved it. One of the british gals pulled a dare card and they dared her to kiss for 5 seconds someone in the group. As I was the only single male in the crowd, it ended up being me. First kiss in thailand...yosh would be oh so disappointed, but hey at least I didn't pay for it like half the creeps there. After a while we moved to the water for some swimming which was awesome b/c there was tons of bioluminescence from the plankton there so that it really lit up the water and seeme rather psychadellic when mixed with the alcohol and a little bit of weed that was passed around. Eventually around 4am we crashed on the beach and then woke up for sunrise.
5-1: Everyone else was going to go sleep on the beach and nurse hangovers this day, but of course not me. I rented a kayak and and paddled to monkey beach (but unfortunately no monkeys) and then along the towering cliffs of phi phi don having fun going through lots of caves and arches. Found a cool little bay hidden away that I paddled to. At the end was a tiny white beach and one ancient thai guy and another younger thai guy just sitting there and smoking. I assume they do that everyday. Everynow and then they'd get up to peer at the sky or grab another cigarette, but that was it. They made me some tea and I sat with them for a while. Based on pointing and previous knowledge I deduced that they harvested swallow nests from the cave nearby for the chinese bird nest soup. I continued along phi phi don until I got to the end of it and there was a long strait between me and phi phi leh. Partly b/c it wasn't late in the day and I had nothing else to do, partly b/c I'm always up for an adventure, and partly b/c all the locals (and obviously the lazy tourists) said it couldn't be done b/c it was too far, I set out for Phi Phi Leh and maya bay. It was quite amusing to see the looks that the thais on their speed boats and long tails gave me as they zoomed by me. 4 hours after starting out I arrived at the bay, which was must less crowded today. Coming back it only took 3 hours b/c I went in a straighter line and did less exploring, but I was definitely feeling it in my arms when I pulled up to the beach. The food on phi phi had been quite expensive as even the local stands were double what they normally were, so I hadn't eaten as much as normal and I was starving after missing lunch and the long paddle. There was a texas bbq place I had seen earlier that had a burger challenge that if you could finish an 800 g (1.75lbs) patty, bun, toppings, bacon, cheese, a salad, coleslaw, and what seemed like 2 pounds of steaming hot frech fries in 30 minutes it was yours free, otherwise you had to pay 500B which is quite expensive. I had confidence I could do it after Caleb and I dominated the burger challenge at Elliot's in caldwell. But this was a whole new ballgame. Much bigger burger, and just so many fries. I was done with the burger, salda, and slaw by 8 minutes, but the fries were tough. So hot and dry, and so many. I was beginning to think I wouldn't make it. Time wasn't the issue, it was just fitting everything in my stomach. But alas, at 22 minutes and some seconds I slammed my fist down as done. The australian manager was impressed and said I could really eat. I was so full I just had to walk around for a while after that to digest a bit, but I have to say the burger was quite tasty and a nice treat from the rice and curry.
4-28: Took the ferry to Phi Phi Don island and on the way we cruised by Phi Phi Leh island, the island made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio and the beach. Just from the brief look aboard the ferry I could tell it was spectacular with its emerald and turquoise water, shimmering beach and towering limestone cliffs. I checked into a bungalow near the beach at a fairly reasonable price. Good thing it was the low season as it was(100B) 9 dollars a night, but they say in the high season the same one would be (800B) 24 bucks. Luckily for me I got pretty spectacular weather while I was there, so the low season didn't affect me. I hiked up a steep trail to an amazing viewpoint overlooking the cliff filled island with the sand bar connecting two islands with white beaches on either side and gorgeous turqoise water in the bays. One of the more breathtaking sites I have ever seen. Then I met up with a brit and a chilean and we hiked down to a remote beach on the other side with a very fancy resort on it and really only accessible by boat. We swam in the gorgeous water there for a bit and then I poached the resorts nice freshwater pool to get the salt off me before the hike back and to take advantage of the water slide and massage rocks. It was easy to poach...just act like you know what you're doing, confidence as lucas would say. Explored the island after that. Phi Phi Don Island is quite cool. All the structures are pretty much on this little sand bar. There are no cars and no dogs (which was a nice break). Instead cats rule the island and I preferred them much better as they don't chase you, bark at you, or try and bite you, but instead rub up against your legs and ask for a chin scratch. Phi Phi was one of the islands most destroyed by the tsunami as it all just sits on a little sand bar. So now they have warning sirens everywhere and evacuation plans and pavement everywhere. That night I checked out some fire shows on the beach, watched some muy thai fighting and then friend on friend fighting at this bar
4-29 Took a boat tour of Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh where we visited several beaches along phi phi don, did some snorkeling and visited maya bay and beah on phi phi leh (where they filmed the beach; now I've seen khao san road, the waterfall they filmed, the on on guesthouse where they filmed, and this now). The scenery was stupendous! The water so brilliant green, turquoise, and emerald, and the white beach tucked up into the cliffs. Kayaked from the boat to the beach and then walked to the other side where you can go through a small hole at low tide (or climb a ladder) to get to a bay on the other side. After that we also went for a swim at bamboo island. I was glad that I got to see maya bay and go around the two islands, but the tour was quite poor. Too short (only 1 hour to kayak to and explore the famous beach), and just not very good guides, and there were a million people and speed boats parked along the entire length of the beach so it was a bit disappointing. That night I walked up to the viewpoint to read and watch the sunset, and then some vacationing thais at my guesthouse invited me to share some beers with them on their deck.
4-30 I explored the island some more and hiked to long beach. I signed up for an overnight camping tour to stay at maya beach. So at 4 we left for that. First we got to kayak all by ourselves in gorgeous pi leh bay with its aquamarine waters and then do some snorkeling there. Then as a monsoon wind was blowing in (but no rain thankfully) we couldn't enter through maya bay so we docked at the next bay and walked through the hole to get to the otherside of the island and maya beach. It was jaw dropping when we got to the beach! Not a sole there. Just us. Empty sand and empty bay. We swam around and tossed the frisbee and bit and then watched the sunset. We then had some thai food and they gave us all free buckets and free shots of samsung and we played some drinking games, which led us to buying another round of buckets. It was a lot of fun as the group was very cool. Several brits, some canadians who had been in india for a while, and a couple from poland. It was more of my type of people and not the sunworshippers doing the speed boat trips. Eventually the drinking games led to kings cup, and I pulled a make a rule card and my rule was that everyone had to yell I love poland before taking a drink which turned out to be a riot as the polish people just loved it. One of the british gals pulled a dare card and they dared her to kiss for 5 seconds someone in the group. As I was the only single male in the crowd, it ended up being me. First kiss in thailand...yosh would be oh so disappointed, but hey at least I didn't pay for it like half the creeps there. After a while we moved to the water for some swimming which was awesome b/c there was tons of bioluminescence from the plankton there so that it really lit up the water and seeme rather psychadellic when mixed with the alcohol and a little bit of weed that was passed around. Eventually around 4am we crashed on the beach and then woke up for sunrise.
5-1: Everyone else was going to go sleep on the beach and nurse hangovers this day, but of course not me. I rented a kayak and and paddled to monkey beach (but unfortunately no monkeys) and then along the towering cliffs of phi phi don having fun going through lots of caves and arches. Found a cool little bay hidden away that I paddled to. At the end was a tiny white beach and one ancient thai guy and another younger thai guy just sitting there and smoking. I assume they do that everyday. Everynow and then they'd get up to peer at the sky or grab another cigarette, but that was it. They made me some tea and I sat with them for a while. Based on pointing and previous knowledge I deduced that they harvested swallow nests from the cave nearby for the chinese bird nest soup. I continued along phi phi don until I got to the end of it and there was a long strait between me and phi phi leh. Partly b/c it wasn't late in the day and I had nothing else to do, partly b/c I'm always up for an adventure, and partly b/c all the locals (and obviously the lazy tourists) said it couldn't be done b/c it was too far, I set out for Phi Phi Leh and maya bay. It was quite amusing to see the looks that the thais on their speed boats and long tails gave me as they zoomed by me. 4 hours after starting out I arrived at the bay, which was must less crowded today. Coming back it only took 3 hours b/c I went in a straighter line and did less exploring, but I was definitely feeling it in my arms when I pulled up to the beach. The food on phi phi had been quite expensive as even the local stands were double what they normally were, so I hadn't eaten as much as normal and I was starving after missing lunch and the long paddle. There was a texas bbq place I had seen earlier that had a burger challenge that if you could finish an 800 g (1.75lbs) patty, bun, toppings, bacon, cheese, a salad, coleslaw, and what seemed like 2 pounds of steaming hot frech fries in 30 minutes it was yours free, otherwise you had to pay 500B which is quite expensive. I had confidence I could do it after Caleb and I dominated the burger challenge at Elliot's in caldwell. But this was a whole new ballgame. Much bigger burger, and just so many fries. I was done with the burger, salda, and slaw by 8 minutes, but the fries were tough. So hot and dry, and so many. I was beginning to think I wouldn't make it. Time wasn't the issue, it was just fitting everything in my stomach. But alas, at 22 minutes and some seconds I slammed my fist down as done. The australian manager was impressed and said I could really eat. I was so full I just had to walk around for a while after that to digest a bit, but I have to say the burger was quite tasty and a nice treat from the rice and curry.
Living it up at the hotel cali..err phuket
So I used my best western points from travelling with work to put me up for a few nights in a
best western here on Phuket. Phuket is thailand's major travel
destination, especially for short vacations and package tourists.
Everything can be booked and done from here, though at a price. It's
probably one of the more expensive places in thailand. They have all
the tours to like the famous james bond island, or the island where
the beach was filmed, or khao sok where I just was, etc, etc. It's
good for the people on short holidays, but for me as a budget
traveller, it's by far cheaper to go visit these places on my own
rather than book the trips here. I'm here mainly to pick up a
package, see a few of the site on phuket island, and mostly some R&R,
which is unique for me. Phuket is also famous for its Patong beach
which is a huge beautiful strip of white sand and also has a lot of go
go bars and prostitution on its nearby streets. It reminds me a bit
of a hawaii or a cancun, or what I imagine the caribbean to be like.
Lots of fancy places and then tourists traps like monkey shows, tiger
shows, fancy thai dancing, atv-ing, zip lining, diving, waterskiing,
sailing, you name it. Anything you want to do here, you can.
I'll probably make my way to see the infamous patong beach at some
point, but I don't think I'll do a whole lot else (maybe splurge on
one of the thai shows which do look quite cool in that elaborate las
vegas way, and I find the thai history and culture of old quite
intriguing and fascinating...possibly due to my enjoyment of the king
and I). Kind of just take in the luxury. I'm at a best western a bit
out of town in the northeastern part of the island. It's incredibly
fancy!! Free drink and fresh fruit on arrival. Two swimming pools
overlooking gorgeous phang nga bay, pool swim up bar, free pool and
ping pong (if only bro were here for our island ping pong matches with
pulled up shorts british style!), staff at your service at a snap of
the fingers, free internet (which has allowed me to catch up on all my
emails, credit card payments, blogging, trip planning), a monstrous
buffet breakfast with thai food, sausage, eggs, made to order omelets,
bacon, wheat bread, croissants, cereal, chicken, fresh fruit, fresh
fruitjuice, MILK, everything. You don't know how good that breakfast
is to someone who has been eating asian food for basically every meal.
My room is awesome too. Aircon (which is a blessing to keep the
humidity down after everything from the rainforest is drenched...even
stuff that never got rained on is mil-dewey and damp just b/c of the
humidity), a huge bed with a REAL mattress and pillows, a large flat
screen tv, a hot shower, and also a separate bath. lights that
actually light up the room, lots of space to throw my junk everywhere
to dry out and reorganize. Lots of fancy soaps and toiletries that I
will be sure to take with me for later use. The manager here, Yusif,
is incredibly nice. As it's the down season here (cloudy, though not
really rainy), I was the only one here the first night, so I have it
all to myself, though now that it's the weekend a bunch of thais from
bangkok have come in. The hotel is up on a cliff with a great view,
and it's a quick walk (or free shuttle) down to a little beach.
Everymorning, they also will take you for free on a boat through the
bay to a cool little island with a beach. It was deserted the first
day that I went, so I had the island all to myself. They also let you
take out nice kayaks for free, which is quite the bonus. It's like
one of those fancy resorts you think of when you think of Hawaii
(think Forgetting Sara Marshall movie resort). The manager said they
are 4 stars, but trying to become 5 stars. The main problem is their
location is a bit far from the happening part of phuket. He was
laughing how I was staying at basically zero star (shared bathroom
outhouse style, no shower just using buckets from the water that is
also used to flush the toilet, lights that don't work, bungalows that
are falling down complete with mosquitos, spiders, a semi sorta
mattress, poop usually on the mattress and sheets (if they give you
any), most likely from geckos, or at least I hope not mice, hot and
stale and humid, not secure, etc (but hey that's part of the adventure
right)) places and much admired me for that. The amazing thing is
this fancy place most likely costs less than the best western in
caldwell (overlooking farm city), and I know that it's half as
expensive as the best westerns i stayed in boston, san diego,
indianapolis, and seattle for my job. So that in itself is quite
amazing. It's way over my budget for here, but for what people would
consider as expensive back home, it is not at all. But regardless, it
is so nice to have a little comfort, cuddle up in the soft pillows to
watch some tv after hot shower (the bathtub is used for my laundry),
swim in a clean pool, and feel a bit like a thai king of old. There's
nothing wrong with indulging in a little luxury every now and then!
The first day at the hotel I did the island tour like I said and then
just enjoyed the two huge and beautiful pools, read a bit, used the
internet for a while and watched the movie jumper on tv. Nice and
relaxing day. The cool manager, who really likes me I think b/c I'm
not like the typical tourist here but am usually more travelling and
living like the locals, wanted to see my pictures, so we went through
some of my pictures from burma and the philippines. He then took me
to a wedding reception for a muslim woman that got married who works
for the hotel. So we got to eat some good thai food. He told me his
sister is engaged to a new zealand guy (he showed me the picture and
he's a chunky balled white guy that looks an awful lot like a sturgis
harley rider while his sister is a cute, young, thin thai), but he's
happy for it. In both thai tradition (as well as muslim I learned at
the reception), the man has to ask the woman's parents for permission.
After they say yes, the families agree on how much money the man's
family will give to the woman's family. Even after the wedding, the
woman's family blocks the man from getting to the woman in her bedroom
until he gives them money and more money before reaching the door. So
Yusif is quite excited b/c in this marriage he is going to get quite a
bit of money, a house, and a car!
The next day I took the breakfast buffet to town and then hung out by
the beach reading and then took the kayak out to explore around the
coast a bit and the mangrove forests in the area. The afternoon I did
a little repairing of some things I needed to with my backpacking kit
in the comfort of the ac room (they let me check out at 5) and then
just hung out reading at the pool, though mostly swimming b/c it was
too hot
That evening I met Yusif in town at the market as we both needed new watches and he treated me to dinner. Then we went out to have some beers with a friend who was the spa manager at one of the nicest resorts on the island and also a lady boy. It never ceases to amaze me how no one even thinks twice about lady boys. It seems to me like back home a 5 star resort wouldn't hire a lady boy, I mean vail resorts even made lucas shave his beard. But here they work everywhere and are just part of the society. Buffet sign in phuket: 200B man, 150B lady boy 100b woman, 70B child. Yusif was very generous and realizing I was on a budget let me crash at his apartment for two nights while I waited to pick up my poste restante package on monday. The next day I picked up my package and then explored a few nice beaches (laem sing, surin, kalaw, then got what I thought was a really cheap beer at the 7-11 to drink on Patong beach. It was called Siam, but it tastes like a mixture of beer, flat champagne and cider. But that's ok b/c it was only 75 cents for a liter. That night yusif treated me again to some thai food and cooked up some omelets and rice at his apartment. The next morning I caught a very to Ko Phi Phi (ko pee pee).
best western here on Phuket. Phuket is thailand's major travel
destination, especially for short vacations and package tourists.
Everything can be booked and done from here, though at a price. It's
probably one of the more expensive places in thailand. They have all
the tours to like the famous james bond island, or the island where
the beach was filmed, or khao sok where I just was, etc, etc. It's
good for the people on short holidays, but for me as a budget
traveller, it's by far cheaper to go visit these places on my own
rather than book the trips here. I'm here mainly to pick up a
package, see a few of the site on phuket island, and mostly some R&R,
which is unique for me. Phuket is also famous for its Patong beach
which is a huge beautiful strip of white sand and also has a lot of go
go bars and prostitution on its nearby streets. It reminds me a bit
of a hawaii or a cancun, or what I imagine the caribbean to be like.
Lots of fancy places and then tourists traps like monkey shows, tiger
shows, fancy thai dancing, atv-ing, zip lining, diving, waterskiing,
sailing, you name it. Anything you want to do here, you can.
I'll probably make my way to see the infamous patong beach at some
point, but I don't think I'll do a whole lot else (maybe splurge on
one of the thai shows which do look quite cool in that elaborate las
vegas way, and I find the thai history and culture of old quite
intriguing and fascinating...possibly due to my enjoyment of the king
and I). Kind of just take in the luxury. I'm at a best western a bit
out of town in the northeastern part of the island. It's incredibly
fancy!! Free drink and fresh fruit on arrival. Two swimming pools
overlooking gorgeous phang nga bay, pool swim up bar, free pool and
ping pong (if only bro were here for our island ping pong matches with
pulled up shorts british style!), staff at your service at a snap of
the fingers, free internet (which has allowed me to catch up on all my
emails, credit card payments, blogging, trip planning), a monstrous
buffet breakfast with thai food, sausage, eggs, made to order omelets,
bacon, wheat bread, croissants, cereal, chicken, fresh fruit, fresh
fruitjuice, MILK, everything. You don't know how good that breakfast
is to someone who has been eating asian food for basically every meal.
My room is awesome too. Aircon (which is a blessing to keep the
humidity down after everything from the rainforest is drenched...even
stuff that never got rained on is mil-dewey and damp just b/c of the
humidity), a huge bed with a REAL mattress and pillows, a large flat
screen tv, a hot shower, and also a separate bath. lights that
actually light up the room, lots of space to throw my junk everywhere
to dry out and reorganize. Lots of fancy soaps and toiletries that I
will be sure to take with me for later use. The manager here, Yusif,
is incredibly nice. As it's the down season here (cloudy, though not
really rainy), I was the only one here the first night, so I have it
all to myself, though now that it's the weekend a bunch of thais from
bangkok have come in. The hotel is up on a cliff with a great view,
and it's a quick walk (or free shuttle) down to a little beach.
Everymorning, they also will take you for free on a boat through the
bay to a cool little island with a beach. It was deserted the first
day that I went, so I had the island all to myself. They also let you
take out nice kayaks for free, which is quite the bonus. It's like
one of those fancy resorts you think of when you think of Hawaii
(think Forgetting Sara Marshall movie resort). The manager said they
are 4 stars, but trying to become 5 stars. The main problem is their
location is a bit far from the happening part of phuket. He was
laughing how I was staying at basically zero star (shared bathroom
outhouse style, no shower just using buckets from the water that is
also used to flush the toilet, lights that don't work, bungalows that
are falling down complete with mosquitos, spiders, a semi sorta
mattress, poop usually on the mattress and sheets (if they give you
any), most likely from geckos, or at least I hope not mice, hot and
stale and humid, not secure, etc (but hey that's part of the adventure
right)) places and much admired me for that. The amazing thing is
this fancy place most likely costs less than the best western in
caldwell (overlooking farm city), and I know that it's half as
expensive as the best westerns i stayed in boston, san diego,
indianapolis, and seattle for my job. So that in itself is quite
amazing. It's way over my budget for here, but for what people would
consider as expensive back home, it is not at all. But regardless, it
is so nice to have a little comfort, cuddle up in the soft pillows to
watch some tv after hot shower (the bathtub is used for my laundry),
swim in a clean pool, and feel a bit like a thai king of old. There's
nothing wrong with indulging in a little luxury every now and then!
The first day at the hotel I did the island tour like I said and then
just enjoyed the two huge and beautiful pools, read a bit, used the
internet for a while and watched the movie jumper on tv. Nice and
relaxing day. The cool manager, who really likes me I think b/c I'm
not like the typical tourist here but am usually more travelling and
living like the locals, wanted to see my pictures, so we went through
some of my pictures from burma and the philippines. He then took me
to a wedding reception for a muslim woman that got married who works
for the hotel. So we got to eat some good thai food. He told me his
sister is engaged to a new zealand guy (he showed me the picture and
he's a chunky balled white guy that looks an awful lot like a sturgis
harley rider while his sister is a cute, young, thin thai), but he's
happy for it. In both thai tradition (as well as muslim I learned at
the reception), the man has to ask the woman's parents for permission.
After they say yes, the families agree on how much money the man's
family will give to the woman's family. Even after the wedding, the
woman's family blocks the man from getting to the woman in her bedroom
until he gives them money and more money before reaching the door. So
Yusif is quite excited b/c in this marriage he is going to get quite a
bit of money, a house, and a car!
The next day I took the breakfast buffet to town and then hung out by
the beach reading and then took the kayak out to explore around the
coast a bit and the mangrove forests in the area. The afternoon I did
a little repairing of some things I needed to with my backpacking kit
in the comfort of the ac room (they let me check out at 5) and then
just hung out reading at the pool, though mostly swimming b/c it was
too hot
That evening I met Yusif in town at the market as we both needed new watches and he treated me to dinner. Then we went out to have some beers with a friend who was the spa manager at one of the nicest resorts on the island and also a lady boy. It never ceases to amaze me how no one even thinks twice about lady boys. It seems to me like back home a 5 star resort wouldn't hire a lady boy, I mean vail resorts even made lucas shave his beard. But here they work everywhere and are just part of the society. Buffet sign in phuket: 200B man, 150B lady boy 100b woman, 70B child. Yusif was very generous and realizing I was on a budget let me crash at his apartment for two nights while I waited to pick up my poste restante package on monday. The next day I picked up my package and then explored a few nice beaches (laem sing, surin, kalaw, then got what I thought was a really cheap beer at the 7-11 to drink on Patong beach. It was called Siam, but it tastes like a mixture of beer, flat champagne and cider. But that's ok b/c it was only 75 cents for a liter. That night yusif treated me again to some thai food and cooked up some omelets and rice at his apartment. The next morning I caught a very to Ko Phi Phi (ko pee pee).
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