Ok, the internet connection is much better here in Krabi than it was in the jungle. Go figure.
On Saturday I met up with my group for my second tour. I have to admit I was a bit spoiled by my first group of tour mates, so I walked into this meeting with a bit of skepticism. Well, turns out it's not so hot of a group. There are 16 of us and I'm the third oldest. Yep, lot o' kids on this one (18-23 mostly). Anyway, I won't get too much into the people, but I will say I spend most of my time hanging out with a couple from New Orleans (who have terrible stories about the hurricane), and a 24-year-old girl from Canada, who happens to be my room mate. After this tour, which ends in a week and a half, I'm on to Indonesia with a few people from this group, to meet up with yet another group. So many new people!
We left Bangkok on Sunday and headed out on another 12 hour ride on the sleeper train to the jungle. We stayed in these little bungalows right down the road from the Khao Sok national park. This park is one of the largest in the world and has jungle older than the Amazon Basin! It's thought to be the oldest bits of jungle around. Very cool. We went river tubing down a very dirty and bug infested river with such a low water level that I spent most of the time dragging my butt along boulders. All in all, though, it was good fun. The scenery around there was unbelievable. Huge limestone formations jetting out of the ground everywhere. There was even one that looked like an elephant!
The second day, a tour mate and I went for a hike in the park looking for monkeys and waterfalls. Since it's dry season, there weren't any serious waterfalls, but we did see LOTS of monkeys!!! I also saw a flying lizard which kinda made my day. I mean, really, how cool is a flying lizard? Very.
That night we all went to a Reggae bar for a bbq feast! One tiny little Thai woman cooked for 30 of us and it was probably the best meal I've had so far. Yummm.
We left the jungle yesterday morning and headed out here to Krabi. Krabi (pronounced gra-bee) is a really more of a resort area than a backpacker area, which means everything is really expensive. Since we've been here I've done nothing but swim in the ocean and sleep on the beach and eat banana pancakes. Tough life, I know. It is crazy hot here so we try to spend more time out of the sun during the peak hours. We're here for another day and a half and then we head out to Panang in Malaysia. My tour leader says this is where I'll find the best Indian food ever (well, besides India), so I'm quite excited about that.
As for now, it's time for lunch, so I'm gonna skip off.
Miss ya'll.
Happy February!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
I'm in the jungle!!
The internet is crazy slow here in the jungle, so I'm only going to write a bit for fear it would take 16 hours to post.
I will write again tomorrow and tell all about my jungle adventures. In the morning I head out to the beach!!!!
Fantastic.
I will write again tomorrow and tell all about my jungle adventures. In the morning I head out to the beach!!!!
Fantastic.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
A few complaints...
Some of you might remember that just before I left I had a pretty nasty cough due to cold thing going on. Well, it cleared up, and was pretty much gone by the time I arrived in Bangkok. The thing is, it's back. But this time, I'm sure it's a cough due to so much crazy, nasty pollution! :) Bangkok, or at least the part of it I'm staying in, is really the dirtiest place I've ever been in. There are so many fumes shooting out of the backs of buses, cars, tuk tuks and motorbikes that you would swear there's a competition going on to see who can spew out the most. Ha! It's gross.
The coffee here is just plain bad, which surprises me because they practically have coffee beans growing in their back yards! Not that I really should be drinking coffee, or need to, but you know, sometimes it’s nice to have around. I’ve been avoiding the Starbucks like the plague, but I might have to give in to just one Frappuccino before I leave Bangkok. Does that make me a bad person? :) I hope not.
After my first tour ended, I decided to cancel the reservations I had at the hotel I had booked because there’s construction being done right outside and they start pretty damn early, and go all day. I had a few hours where I thought, “hey, why don’t I just catch a bus down south and hop on a ferry to one of the islands, stay there for a couple days, and then come back to Bangkok in time for my next tour!” It was a great plan, until I realized that the amount of time it would have taken me to get to the island, and then the time it would have taken to get back from the island, would leave me with only about 24 hours ON the island. No good. So I booked a room at the Viengtai Hotel, where V and I stayed for a night last time. It’s a nice hotel with a pool a hairdryer. Quite a nice break from the mountain life. Gives me a chance to rest up for the next leg of the trip.
In the mean time, I’ve been trying to find a route from my hotel to this internet café that doesn’t take me past fish heads in the morning.
Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!
Ewwww.
Maybe you can tell I’m ready to get out of the city. I need the beach so badly I can taste it. I think it’s only another few days before I get there. Maybe Sunday. That seems very far away.
Not sure what today entails. Maybe some more swimming, and a temple or two.
Ahhhhhh, Bangkok. My dirty little friend.
I love.
The coffee here is just plain bad, which surprises me because they practically have coffee beans growing in their back yards! Not that I really should be drinking coffee, or need to, but you know, sometimes it’s nice to have around. I’ve been avoiding the Starbucks like the plague, but I might have to give in to just one Frappuccino before I leave Bangkok. Does that make me a bad person? :) I hope not.
After my first tour ended, I decided to cancel the reservations I had at the hotel I had booked because there’s construction being done right outside and they start pretty damn early, and go all day. I had a few hours where I thought, “hey, why don’t I just catch a bus down south and hop on a ferry to one of the islands, stay there for a couple days, and then come back to Bangkok in time for my next tour!” It was a great plan, until I realized that the amount of time it would have taken me to get to the island, and then the time it would have taken to get back from the island, would leave me with only about 24 hours ON the island. No good. So I booked a room at the Viengtai Hotel, where V and I stayed for a night last time. It’s a nice hotel with a pool a hairdryer. Quite a nice break from the mountain life. Gives me a chance to rest up for the next leg of the trip.
In the mean time, I’ve been trying to find a route from my hotel to this internet café that doesn’t take me past fish heads in the morning.
Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!
Ewwww.
Maybe you can tell I’m ready to get out of the city. I need the beach so badly I can taste it. I think it’s only another few days before I get there. Maybe Sunday. That seems very far away.
Not sure what today entails. Maybe some more swimming, and a temple or two.
Ahhhhhh, Bangkok. My dirty little friend.
I love.
Monday, January 22, 2007
You want me to go where?
I'm sitting here in Chiang Mai, at an internet cafe, more sore than I think I've ever been. We just got back today from our three day hilltribe trek through Thailand's Northern mountains.
This is about how it went:
-14 hour train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It was a sleeper train...so cool! We left around 8:00pm so I spent most of the trip sleeping on super comfy make shift beds. By the time the morning came, the view out the train was pretty amazing.
- 2 hour truck ride to our guest house in Chiang Mai. Such a cute little place. We were pleased to find comfortable beds, hot running water and non-squat toilets. Very upper class!
- Lots and lots of shopping at the day and night markets. So much good stuff to buy.
- A few of us made our way to see some Muay Thai. Those guys are crazy! There were 9 fights that started from boys as young as 11 or 12, up to men who basically just kick the crap out of each other. It was quite an experience for sure.
- Woke up the next morning, rented gear for the trek.
The first hike was only two hours, but about one hour and forty five minutes of that was straight down on very steep and narrow trails. As expected, we all slipped and feel at least once. Mine was so good that it ripped right through my pants and gave me the bruise of a life time. Ouch.
- After the first trek, we ended in a mountain village where we met the locals, took a tour of the village and walked to our hut. The tour company has built houses on stilts with multiple rooms for sleeping, cooking and well, you know. We cooked some dinner, washed up in the river and sat around a fire. The stars are brilliant here. You can see so many!
- We all slept in the same room together in the freezing cold, but managed to get a decent amount of sleep.
- The next morning we woke up around 7, ate breakfast, and headed out for our second trek. This one was a killer. We walked for about 4 hours straight up and straight down the mountains. At one point, a few of us had fallen behind the front pack and leader and came to a fork in the road. Not having a leader with us, we had no idea which way to go, and ended up sitting in the forest for about twenty minutes before someone came back for us! It was crazy. I had all sorts of flashes of us on the news! Mom - don't worry, I'm alive!
- We ended that trek with the most wonderful and exciting hour long elephant ride ever. The elephants took us the next village we were staying in and I have to say I was disappointed when the hour was up. Good pictures of that to come!
- We again walked around the village, met some people, played soccer with the kids, washed in the river (freezing!) and made and ate dinner. It's funny, beer is SO big here. Everyone drinks it. Especially the tourists. Some of the folks I'm on tour with are big drinkers. Needless to say, last night sitting around the fire was quite entertaining! We have these two English kids just out of high school (18 and 19 years old) who got pretty hammered. Very funny.
- We woke up this morning after another very cold night and went bamboo rafting!!!!! The day before some of the villagers made rafts completely out of bamboo for us. We rafted down the river for about 3 hours. It's amazing how well bamboo floats! We went down rapids (while standing, mind you) and almost capsized a few times! Good times. Good pictures of that as well.
- After rafting we stopped at another village, had lunch and got in the trucks to take us back to Chaing Mai.
- After not having a good shower for a few days, I spent quite a long time under some very nice hot water.
- Now I'm off again to the night market for more shopping. Mom and Dad - expect some packages coming your way.
Miss you all! Hope things are going well. Please email me if there are any updates I should know! :)
I'll write again soon.
I LOVE
This is about how it went:
-14 hour train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It was a sleeper train...so cool! We left around 8:00pm so I spent most of the trip sleeping on super comfy make shift beds. By the time the morning came, the view out the train was pretty amazing.
- 2 hour truck ride to our guest house in Chiang Mai. Such a cute little place. We were pleased to find comfortable beds, hot running water and non-squat toilets. Very upper class!
- Lots and lots of shopping at the day and night markets. So much good stuff to buy.
- A few of us made our way to see some Muay Thai. Those guys are crazy! There were 9 fights that started from boys as young as 11 or 12, up to men who basically just kick the crap out of each other. It was quite an experience for sure.
- Woke up the next morning, rented gear for the trek.
- 2 hour truck ride to a very, very cold and refreshing waterfall where we bravely jumped in and hung out in the mist.
- Rode about another 2 hours straight up the side of a mountain. We were basically dropped off in the middle of nowhere and started to walk.The first hike was only two hours, but about one hour and forty five minutes of that was straight down on very steep and narrow trails. As expected, we all slipped and feel at least once. Mine was so good that it ripped right through my pants and gave me the bruise of a life time. Ouch.
- After the first trek, we ended in a mountain village where we met the locals, took a tour of the village and walked to our hut. The tour company has built houses on stilts with multiple rooms for sleeping, cooking and well, you know. We cooked some dinner, washed up in the river and sat around a fire. The stars are brilliant here. You can see so many!
- We all slept in the same room together in the freezing cold, but managed to get a decent amount of sleep.
- The next morning we woke up around 7, ate breakfast, and headed out for our second trek. This one was a killer. We walked for about 4 hours straight up and straight down the mountains. At one point, a few of us had fallen behind the front pack and leader and came to a fork in the road. Not having a leader with us, we had no idea which way to go, and ended up sitting in the forest for about twenty minutes before someone came back for us! It was crazy. I had all sorts of flashes of us on the news! Mom - don't worry, I'm alive!
- We ended that trek with the most wonderful and exciting hour long elephant ride ever. The elephants took us the next village we were staying in and I have to say I was disappointed when the hour was up. Good pictures of that to come!
- We again walked around the village, met some people, played soccer with the kids, washed in the river (freezing!) and made and ate dinner. It's funny, beer is SO big here. Everyone drinks it. Especially the tourists. Some of the folks I'm on tour with are big drinkers. Needless to say, last night sitting around the fire was quite entertaining! We have these two English kids just out of high school (18 and 19 years old) who got pretty hammered. Very funny.
- We woke up this morning after another very cold night and went bamboo rafting!!!!! The day before some of the villagers made rafts completely out of bamboo for us. We rafted down the river for about 3 hours. It's amazing how well bamboo floats! We went down rapids (while standing, mind you) and almost capsized a few times! Good times. Good pictures of that as well.
- After rafting we stopped at another village, had lunch and got in the trucks to take us back to Chaing Mai.
- After not having a good shower for a few days, I spent quite a long time under some very nice hot water.
- Now I'm off again to the night market for more shopping. Mom and Dad - expect some packages coming your way.
I'm back to Bangkok tomorrow, will be there the day after. A few more days in Bangkok before I head off on my next tour.
Miss you all! Hope things are going well. Please email me if there are any updates I should know! :)
I'll write again soon.
I LOVE
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Taken for a ride
So I met my tour mates today as well as the girl I will be sharing a room with for a few nights. Everyone seems really great, and our tour guide is actually from the part of
side note: as i was sitting in an a restaurant/pub today eating lunch, i couldn't help but to overhear a group of men behind me talking about "those stupid americans." ahhh. i'd been waiting for it, really. it's amazing how different it feels to be an american here. i think for the most part people from other parts of the world do not judge american tourists at first sight, but i have no doubt they are laughing under their breath. i mean, how could you not when you turn on CNN and there's a half hour long piece on donald trump and rosie. anyway...
My bunk mate is from
The tour is going to be such an adventure! We start with a 13 hour train ride, spend one day in the city, then start a 3 day hilltribe trek where we explore the villages and camp out among the rice fields. Then we have one more day in the city before we spend another 13 hours getting back to
Ok, it’s about bed time for me. I hope everyone is doing well. I’ll be out of touch for a few days, but I promise I’ll be back!
Love
Love
Love
Monday, January 15, 2007
I'm not in LA anymore
Ok, so here goes a quick run down of the trip so far...
My flight was scheduled to leave LAX at 12:20, but didn't until 1:20. 13 hours later, the piolt announces that due to strong head winds throughout the flight, we did not have enough fuel to make it to Hong Kong. Ugh. So, we were diverted to Taipei to fuel up. For most of the flight, I kept to myself, not talking to the people next to me, but sleeping most of the time. As we were making our way to Taipei, I start talking with the man next to me, Roddley. He was actually on his way to Taipei, but now had to fly to Hong Kong, just to fly back to Taipei. He's from Beijing in the middle of a one month long business trip.
Because of the re-fueling delay, I was going to miss my connecting flight to Bangkok. I was assured the airline would not leave me stranded, but Roddley gave me his business card in case I needed help booking a hotel room in Hong Kong if I wasn't leaving until the next day.
Well, the airline came through and booked me on a flight with Thai Airlines to Bangkok two hours after we arrived in Hong Kong.
While waiting in the airport, I met a girl named Napa from Northern Thailand. She was coming from Texas, where she was living while working for Carnival Cruise. She was great, and helped me order food and not get lost in the airport. She told me all about working for Carnival and let me tell you, I can't believe how poorly those workers are treated. PLEASE, for Napa's sake, if you go on a cruise, treat your dining room staff well!! :) They make about $10 a day. $12 on Christmas.
Anyway, I made it to Bangkok about 5 hours later than scheduled, took a taxi to my hotel, and took a look around. My hotel is located in North Banglamphu, a very low budget part of Bangkok. The crowded streets are jam packed with vendors selling everything from spices to designer suits. It's difficult to know who to trust around here. As a tourist, I have no idea what I should actually be paying for things, so I know I have to be careful not to rush into any purchases. So far, I've only spent money in 7-11 for some water and crackers :)
I did find this great little internet cafe/coffee house that I am now sitting in that serves drinks such as "Americano" and "Iced Cafe Latte." Strange to see anything familiar around here. So far, though, I have passed a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, and Swensen's Ice Cream shop. Bizzare.
There are a lot of other tourists here, and I'm hoping today to find some to talk to. My first tour starts tomorrow, so I'll at least be meeting some people then. As for now, I'm just trying to take it all in. It's amazing how much there is to see in such a small area.
My flight was scheduled to leave LAX at 12:20, but didn't until 1:20. 13 hours later, the piolt announces that due to strong head winds throughout the flight, we did not have enough fuel to make it to Hong Kong. Ugh. So, we were diverted to Taipei to fuel up. For most of the flight, I kept to myself, not talking to the people next to me, but sleeping most of the time. As we were making our way to Taipei, I start talking with the man next to me, Roddley. He was actually on his way to Taipei, but now had to fly to Hong Kong, just to fly back to Taipei. He's from Beijing in the middle of a one month long business trip.
Because of the re-fueling delay, I was going to miss my connecting flight to Bangkok. I was assured the airline would not leave me stranded, but Roddley gave me his business card in case I needed help booking a hotel room in Hong Kong if I wasn't leaving until the next day.
Well, the airline came through and booked me on a flight with Thai Airlines to Bangkok two hours after we arrived in Hong Kong.
While waiting in the airport, I met a girl named Napa from Northern Thailand. She was coming from Texas, where she was living while working for Carnival Cruise. She was great, and helped me order food and not get lost in the airport. She told me all about working for Carnival and let me tell you, I can't believe how poorly those workers are treated. PLEASE, for Napa's sake, if you go on a cruise, treat your dining room staff well!! :) They make about $10 a day. $12 on Christmas.
Anyway, I made it to Bangkok about 5 hours later than scheduled, took a taxi to my hotel, and took a look around. My hotel is located in North Banglamphu, a very low budget part of Bangkok. The crowded streets are jam packed with vendors selling everything from spices to designer suits. It's difficult to know who to trust around here. As a tourist, I have no idea what I should actually be paying for things, so I know I have to be careful not to rush into any purchases. So far, I've only spent money in 7-11 for some water and crackers :)
I did find this great little internet cafe/coffee house that I am now sitting in that serves drinks such as "Americano" and "Iced Cafe Latte." Strange to see anything familiar around here. So far, though, I have passed a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, and Swensen's Ice Cream shop. Bizzare.
There are a lot of other tourists here, and I'm hoping today to find some to talk to. My first tour starts tomorrow, so I'll at least be meeting some people then. As for now, I'm just trying to take it all in. It's amazing how much there is to see in such a small area.
Things I forgot about this place:
The smell. Not so appealing.
How nothing is cold, or at least not as cold as it is back home.
What it's like to not be understood.
How close everyone stands to each other :)
And so much more that I can't think of right now.
Things you don't see in LA:
I woke up this morning, looked out the balcony of my room, and saw shop owners and Banglamphu residents giving offerings to a monk walking down the street.
Ahhhhh!!! I'm in Thailand!!!
It's true. I'm here. It's crazy.
I plan to write a more extensive entry later in the day, but I wanted to let everyone know that I made it here in once piece in a short 23 hours of travel time. Madness. I'm in the lobby of my hotel listening to an instrumental version of "Sound of Silence," and it's helping to make the transition a tiny bit easier. I'm on my way out to grab some food before I bunker down for a very long nap.
I miss everyone already!!
I plan to write a more extensive entry later in the day, but I wanted to let everyone know that I made it here in once piece in a short 23 hours of travel time. Madness. I'm in the lobby of my hotel listening to an instrumental version of "Sound of Silence," and it's helping to make the transition a tiny bit easier. I'm on my way out to grab some food before I bunker down for a very long nap.
I miss everyone already!!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
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