Koh Samui
October 22, 2005
Koh Samui, Thailand
We've spent the past 5 days on the island of Koh Samui. We had hoped to enjoy some relaxing time on the beach....but instead we have had nonstop monsoon rains the whole time. After I had told my mom she didn't even need to pack a rain jacket because the has been perfect for the past month here in Thailand. Oh well. We have been forced to spend our time in nice restaurants and massage parlors instead.
We did take a tour around the island and saw all of the tourist spots including the Big Buddha overlooking the water, the somewhat lewd Grandmother and Grandfather rocks, a mumified monk, a beautiful waterfall, and, of course, some elephants! We didn't get to ride them, but we did get to pet some and take some pictures.
Now we are off to Cambodia to visit the legendary Angkor Wat.
Posted by tim at 01:40 AM | Comments (0)
Family Reunion
October 18, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand
They made it! My parents and brother both arrived in Bangkok on Saturday. Who would have guessed that we would be having a family reunion halfway around the world?? I'm sure my mom wouldn't. She was the hardest one to convince, but we finally convinced her that the beautiful beaches, great food, and cheap massages would be worth it (and a chance to see me, of course).
We stayed at The Peninsula hotel, which was voted best hotel in the world in 2003. It is by far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in in my life. The service is incredible and everyone is so unbelievably nice. Quite a change from the cheap guesthouse rooms Emily and I have been staying in for the last 3 months!
In our few days in Bangkok, we visited the floating market, took a tour of the Chao Phra Ya river, ordered some hand-tailored suits, and explored some wats (Buddhist temples). Now it is off to Koh Samui for some more beach time.
Posted by tim at 03:27 AM | Comments (1)
Koh Phi Phi
October 14, 2005
Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand
I know I have been slacking off on the blogs lately so I will try to catch up with a few now....
After leaving Krabi, we went to Koh Phi Phi for about a week. We stayed on a secluded beach, Hat Yao (Long Beach), which was only accessible by longtail boat or hiking 30 minutes through the woods. Long Beach was beautiful, probably one of the best beaches I have ever seen. Perfect clear blue water looking out at the limestone cliffs of Koh Phi Phi Ley. Unfortunately, Emily was sick for most of the time we were there. But I was able to nurse her back to health and we were still able to enjoy the beach and take a day trip to Koh Phi Phi Ley. Koh Phi Phi Ley is a national marine park, which means that it is protected and nobody can live on it. It is famous for Maya Bay where the movie "The Beach" was filmed (with Leonardo DiCaprio).
Tsunami Recovery
Koh Phi Phi was one of the islands that was hit by the tsunami last year. The side of the island we stayed on seemed to be unaffected, or at least to have almost fully recovered from the effects of the tsunami. However, the beach on the opposite side of town was pretty much wiped out. We saw a postcard picture of what it used to look like - a beautiful palm tree lined beach, but now it was just an empty, barren area. And even now, 10 months later, there are still people cleaning up scraps leftover from the tsunami everyday.
Posted by tim at 02:51 AM | Comments (0)
Halfway Point
October 07, 2005
Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
We are at the official halfway point of our journey. 86 days down, 86 days to go. I thought this would be a good opportunity to reflect a little on the trip and the experiences we have had so far.
The trip has been amazing so far. We have already done so many things and seen so many diverse places. That was one of our main goals when we were planning, to see as many different and unique parts of the world as we could in a limited time. So far, we have been on 3 different continents since leaving the USA and the countries have each had a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions.
It has been nice to get away from our normal day-to-day lives and get a different perspective on the world. We have been pretty much free from responsibility ever since we left. Sleeping in everyday, living in flip-flops, plenty of free time for reading, and the chance to see some of the greatest sights in the world. Budget travel, or backpacking, is a completely different experience than the typical vacation. While you are definitely still a tourist, it is on a different level. You are in closer contact with the local people and are much less sheltered from the realities of whatever country you are in. If you are willing to get dirty and go without some of the luxuries of home for awhile, you can travel for a lot cheaper than most people think and experience the world from a different perspective. There is an entire backpacking culture around the world that most Americans are completely unaware of. I am definitely glad to have been one of the fortunate ones to find out about it.
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
We have covered a lot of ground over the last 2.5 months. In doing so, we have used just about every mode of transportation imaginable including: planes (both economy and business class), trains, automobiles, songthaew (ie. pickup truck beds), tuk-tuks, auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, ferry boats, longtail boats, and a canoe.
By the Numbers:
- Days Travelled: 86 out of 162
- Number of Countries Visited: 6
- Number of Flights: 11
- Number of Flights Missed: 1 (very first one)
- Number of Overnight Buses: 4
- Number of 41-hour Train Rides: 1
- Number of Books I've Read: 12
Posted by tim at 01:48 AM | Comments (0)
Run for the Border
October 02, 2005
Krabi, Thailand
Emily and I did a border run today (which unfortunately did not involve Taco Bell). When you arrive in Thailand you are given a free 30-day tourist visa, so we had to cross the border and come back to renew our visa. This is more common than you may think. Almost any of the many, many travel agents here can arrange a border run. Our trip was an all-day affair, travelling from Krabi to Pedang Besar and then walking across the border to Malaysia. We were in Malaysia for about 5 minutes and the whole time I kept thinking of Zoolander trying to kill the Malaysian prime minister. But anyway, we now have all the required stamps in our passport and can relax again. We are planning on spending some time in Krabi and Koh Phi Phi before heading back up to Bangkok to meet my family in a couple weeks.
Posted by tim at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
The Underwater World
September 27, 2005
Koh Phangan, Thailand
I ended up doing a total of 7 dives, including one night dive, while on Koh Tao. That is the most diving I've done at one time since I got my Advanced Open Water certification 7 years ago. By my last dive, I felt completely comfortable underwater and had good control over my buoyancy again.
Scuba diving is a very peaceful, serene experience. When you are underwater, everything is silent except for the sound of your own breath. It gives you the chance to be an outside observer of an entirely different ecosystem, an entirely different world. I find it quite fascinating.
Highlights of my Dives
- SHARKS!!! On my second dive at the Chumpon Pinnacle divesite, we saw 4 gray tip reef sharks that were each around 6 feet long. It was amazing. Probably the coolest thing I have ever seen on a dive.
- Phosphorescence - It had been so long since my last night dive that I had forgotten about the phosphorescence. When you are swimming through the pitch black water, every movement you make agitates the plankton (or maybe algae, I can't remember) and makes it glow. So kicking your fins leaves a trail of glowing specks in the darkness behind you. Very cool.
- Some of the other things I saw on the dives: Shrimp, blue-ringed angelfish, triggerfish, moray eels, a clownfish (aka Nemo), a crab, sea anenomes, lots of beautiful corals, and the largest schools of fish I have ever seen in my life (well over a thousand fish).
Posted by tim at 01:57 AM | Comments (0)
The Scuba Diver Factory
September 23, 2005
Koh Tao, Thailand
A couple days after the Full Moon party, Emily and I took a boat over to the next island - Koh Tao. (By the way, the Full Moon party was pretty fun. Thousands of people on the beach with a cool fire-show and each bar blasting its own music. We were afraid it was going to be some crazy rave, but it was actually pretty laid back and fun. But as I was saying...) Koh Tao is known for its scuba diving. It is supposed to be one of the cheapest places to dive in the world, and the diving is supposed to be great - warm, clear water filled with lots of colorful fish and coral. Of course, word has gotten out about this so it is now a very popular destination, especially for backpackers. And unfortunately for us, the busiest time is the week after the Full Moon party.
We decided to stay on Sairee beach, which is lined with virtually identical dive shops. Each of which charge the exact same amount for diving, dive courses, and accomodations (including the same discounts). There is some sort of collusion (or possibly government regulation) going on here. With so many indistinguishable shops certifying so many new divers every day, the whole island seems like one big factory that is mass producing scuba divers. But even the large number of students and divers can't take away from amazing sights underwater.
My original plan was to get my divemaster certification while I was here, but I decided to just relax and do some fun dives instead. So far I've done 4 dives - Chumphon Pinnacle, Twins, Southwest Pinnacle, and Shark Island. Supposedly there are whale sharks in the area now, so I'm planning on doing a few more dives to try to see one.
Posted by tim at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)
Return to Paradise
September 18, 2005
Koh Phangan, Thailand
I am back in Thailand for the second time this year...and loving it. I'm not sure if it is because I was just here and everything is familiar, because we are coming from India and after that experience everything just seems better here, or just because Thailand is a great place with friendly people and cheap food. We flew into Bangkok and spent 4 days enjoying the hustle and bustle of Khaosan Road. Khaosan Road is the mecca for backpackers. Everything you want is at your fingertips and everything is cheap. You can watch pirated Hollywood movies at every restaurant, buy fake designer goods from the market, get a $5 massage, and eat delicious pad thai or banana pancakes for less than a dollar.
Being back in Bangkok was like having deja vu all over again. We stayed in the same hotel that Cheney and I stayed in back in January, ate pad thai from the same lady on the street, saw someone selling giant zippos (the same guy I think), saw Cheney's favorite Burger King, and have generally seen alot of the same people and same places that I saw just a few months ago. Everything is the same. Same same but different.
The Islands
We have decided to spend the bulk of our time here on three islands in the Gulf of Thailand - Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao. We started with Koh Samui, the furthest south and most developed. Koh Samui caters to more of the older, package tourist crowd than to backpackers. Things are just a bit pricier so it made it hard to stick to our $20/day budget. So after just a couple days on Koh Samui, we decided to head up to the next island, Koh Phangan.
Koh Phangan is a little backpacker paradise. It is like Bangkok's Khaosan Road just moved down to a tropical beach setting. Everyone is young here, the restaurants all show pirated movies, and you can get great cheap food like fresh fruit shakes and Koh Phangan's famous chicken sandwiches. Our bungalow is a short walk to a nice beach, Hat Rin....but unfortunately there are sea lice in the water here right now, so when you are swimming it feels like little jellyfish are stinging you all over your body. Not the most fun.
The main attraction on Koh Phangan is the Full Moon Party on the beach. And tonight happens to be a full moon. Should be interesting.
Posted by tim at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)