Phuket

Yay! Finally catching up.

We are now in Phuket. It is very interesting. We are in an area that is very family oriented but also lots of old guys with Thai women all around them, creepy! This city is pretty strange but it's nice that it has a beach. The beach is really empty and beautiful too. The waves are huge and the tides and currents are apparently really dangerous.

So one awesome thing happened today. We were at lunch and we got free fruit at the end of our meal. As Steve was taking a bite of banana I spit a watermelon seed into his closing mouth. It was the best shot in the world! Oh man I can never do that again but I was really proud. See how interesting Steve and I get after hanging out for almost 2 months straight? Jealous I know.

We went to Patong today which is a beach about 7 km from us. It was raining but I had to get to a post office and Tuk Tuk's are very expensive here so we rented a motorbike. It was a little scary driving down hills in the crazy rain but we made it (and wore helmets!).

We are leaving for New Zealand tomorrow! So exciting! Hope home is going well.

Koh Phi Phi

I already described the best part by far of Phi Phi so this post won't be too long. One thing that was really cool was that we saw 6 people that we met at all different places! That was great. So random to see people we know in Thailand!

Phi Phi is SO touristy! We were there in low season so I guess it was slow but there are crazy amounts of bars, stalls, alcohol, and tattoo shops. Not surprising, the tattoo shops fill up real quick late at night. One night Steve and I went to this bar and they had a big jump rope to try. I thought I would fall on my face but I actually went until I got tired, it was cool! Other than Scuba we went for a gorgeous hike to the viewpoint. The hike is straight uphill and is pretty far but totally worth the hike. You can see the whole island which is really neat. We also laid on the beach for a day, shopped and watched rugby games! We watched the US get destroyed by Australia, kinda embarrassing.

One thing that was nice in Phi Phi is that because it is so touristy, they have bagels! Something Steve and I have missed a lot. I think I got one with cream cheese every morning.

Phi Phi was beautiful, just seems like it would have been terrible in the high season.

Ton Sai

Ok time to backtrack:

We are heading to New Zealand TOMORROW so I wanna try to catch up with posts before I have to spend a bunch o money on internet!

So after Khao Sok we headed to a beach. I loved the National Park but it was really nice to get to weather where I didn't feel damp all the time. We went to Ton Sai which is a beach near Krabi, it's still the mainland but you have to take a boat there. It's interesting because a longtail is 800 baht ($20) for about a 10 min. ride so you have to wait for 8 people to fill the boat up. I thought we wold have to wait long but it was only 30 minutes or so. Oh and our minibus there was the most TERRIFYING drive EVER. Ha worse than Corps members driving! I sat in the front seat and usually the driver was going about 90 mph and to pass people he pulled up within an inch of their bumper and would pass on blind turns going up a hill. It was nuts buuuuut we're alive:)

We were really lucky with the beach we stayed at. There are 4 beaches on the strip of land. Ours is the climbing beach which is apparently crazy full during the high season but it was so chill. There are monkeys everywhere on the cliffs which is so cool. We went to this one bar, Chill Out bar, that was recommended by a PeaceCorps volunteer in Khao Sok and it was great! We also met two guys traveling from the US and they went to school in Tuscaloosa! The guy was wearing a U of A shirt and I should said Roll Tide! to him but we started talking and he was so nice and thanked us for working in Tuscaloosa. It was cool. We also met a guy from New Jersey with his Thai girlfriend who sets people up for teaching english in Thailand! Hey if I really need a job...
Also at the bar we saw a baby Finn and a mama Finn (my cat). SO CUTE! Mama Finn sat on my lap for a long time:)

There were three other beaches, Raileh East, West, and Phrah Nang. East has all the mongrove trees, but no real beach. West is a great beach but with all the resorts, a lot more family focused. And then Phrah Nang...beautiful! It only has one CRAZY expensive resort but you can go to the beach anyway. Along the walk there were tons of monkeys walking along the fence holding on to their babies! So cute! In order to leave Ton Sai there was an area of rocks we had to climb to get across. During low tide you can walk through the water and it's faster but a little crazy...we had some interesting times. One time we went for a snorkel trip which was ok...the best park was that they had a phosphorescent swim which was like the bio bay in Puerto Rico! It is plankton that lights up like a lightening bug when you disturb the water around it. These weren't as bright as Puerto Rico but still really cool. But we were supposed to be dropped off at our beach after which didn't happen so we had to walk across at night, in sandals, with no light! Pretty rough. Then the next morning we had to cross again because the only ferry left from Raileh East to get to Phi Phi at 9 am and no longboats are going anywhere that early. Ugh I was not happy to do all that climbing with all our bags but we luckily made it with no real injuries, surprising I know.

Ton Sai was great and really relaxing for us!

Diving

So I am going to skip a big chunk just for a little because we had a really cool day today. We went diving in Koh Phi Phi and it was so cool! We went on two dives and I feel like we saw everything you would want to see on a dive. First of all, there were tons of fish. It was really neat we got to swim through a lot of huge schools of fish. We also saw A LEOPARD SHARK, two sea turtles, cuttle fish, barracuda, and a morey eel. So cool! The shark was just chilling in the sand and we were less than a meter from it and he didn't care at all. The turtles were really cool, the first one was just chomping on some stuff growing on the coral and the second was riding along a current. The eel was HUGE!

All in all it definitely made our lessons worth it.

Khao Sok

I forgot to mention our awesome overnight trip to Khao Sok...it was interesting. We took an overnight ferry and it was just a bunch of thin mattresses on the floor of a boat. It seemed creepy and the photo makes it look pretty bad but I think it has been mine and Steve's favorite overnight trip, we actually slept well, better than the train with the cockroaches!

Anyway, the jungle is really cool. Our first day we went for a walk and almost immediately after we left our resort we saw a bunch of wild monkeys! So cool. A lot of the trails we closed off to us because it is still their rainy season, but we got to walk along the river. The next day we went for another walk, in a downpour. It was actually kinda cool since rain is the basis of a rainforest anyway. The only problem was the leeches. There are land leeches there and they are pretty brutal. They climb up your shoes VERY quickly, especially if you stand still to try to get them off. Once you pick them off they attach to your thumb and you can't get them off. Yuck! I wasn't a fan. I got one and it drew blood after it attached where an ant bit me and didn't stop bleeding for awhile! It was weird.

We also did a lake day tour and it was so much fun! I asked steve today what his favorite thing is that we've done and he said the lake tour. It was really pretty, it's a lake that is man-made, the river was dammed and the area was flooded. We took a longtail boat out with a guide and 3 other couples. We were able to swim in the lake and eat lunch and then we went for the hike. I guess I should have brought some regular shoes but I didn't really know what we were going to do. We had about a 2 mile hike (through a leechy jungle) to get to a cave. Once at the cave we went in but it was a cave with water going through it and the water was so high we had to swim against the current for a long time! It was nuts. You could also hold onto a rope and pull yourself against the current to see a waterfall in the back. It was a really cool adventure that we didn't expect to have!

I really liked the jungle, the area was beautiful and the people who owned the resort were great. Ha I tried to wash some of my own clothes but NOTHING dries there and there are a million ants so they covered my clothes and actually ate dime-sized holes through my clothes! Yikes. But other than that it was so neat to be in a completely different environment!

The Jungle!

I am starting to get behind on posts, I will try to be better! After Koh Tao we went to Khao Sok which is a National Park in Southern Thailand. We stayed in a tree house for 4 nights there and just explored. Our treehouse was really nice. We were supposed to stay in the cheapest one but that deck fell apart so we got to stay at a way nicer one for the same price. The guy who owns the resort just started a month ago but he's from california and has been in thailand for 8 years. He was really nice, pretty crazy.

I've got a lot to say about the jungle...I will next time. We are nowin Ton Sai, it's very chill and very beautiful!

The rest of Koh Tao

Koh Tao was really cool. Our dives were pretty nuts because the weather was kinda rough, but once you got under the water it was so calm! We saw so many fish. We did 4 dives in two days. 3 to 12 meters deep and then 1 to 18 meters deep! Pretty neat. We were supposed to go to an area where a whale shark had been sighted the day before but the weather was way to rough so we didn't, too bad!

We went to some pretty cool places and met some really nice people. For part of diving we were with a group of people from england, holland, and canada. Once Steve got sick we moved to another group that consisted of 3 guys from austria, 2 from spain, and a guy from California. Our group was really fun and shill. No one freaked out under the water so our class went really well. We ate at this really good italian pizza place, La Matta. It is owned by an Italian and it was really good! The bbq at the place we stayed was awesome too! One night Steve and I split a red snapper for 7 bucks(Dad I know you're jealous) it was SO GOOD!

Oh yeah and I had my bday in Koh Tao. Terrence from Canada bought me the signature shot at our hotel, a darth Jaeger. It is a jaeger bomb but instead of beer it's cider and they play the star wars theme song while you drink it! Pretty funny.

Oh and Dan, if you are reading this, I have a picture to post that should be your next hair cut idea, get excited!

Island Life

So we are finally in Koh Tao. We were really excited to be here because Bangkok was a little much and we were ready to relax. Unfortunately we (especially Steve) got sick. For the first 3 days his temperature went up and down and his stomach didn't do so well. I think it was food poisoning because my stomach and temperature were bad for about a day but then I felt ok. Maybe it was something he ate and then I had a little. But now it is Sept. 10th and we both feel good! We are at Buddha View Resort and they messed up on rooms so we were upgraded to a delux room, so fancy! But no toilet paper...weird. We haven't done much since Steve has been sick but we did start diving! It is so cool! In the mornings we have class and then we do skills in the afternoon. First the pool, then the sea up to about 5 meters and today we have our first dives! We have 2 12 meter dives! Yesterday we held a BIG hermit crab (a new friend for Forrest!) and saw a sting ray and a bunch o fish! There is so much underwater life here, it's awesome! We are in a group with 3 guys from Austria and they are really nice. Our instructor is James, he has been here for 8 years and he is great. He really knows his stuff and is very patient. He speaks great Thai too even though he is from Australia. Pretty neat. Koh Tao has been great so far, and we can't wait for our real dives! Get excited for pictures!

So, we didn't have internet for awhile, we have to pay for it here, so here is a summary of the rest of our time in Bangkok. I am on a different

Day 2: We went to Chatchuck (I dunno if that is the right spelling) Market. It is the largest market in the WORLD. Seriously. It is split up by sections, kinda, and then they have everything! There are lots o' animals, it was kinda sad and I wanted them ALL, tons of clothes, bags, art, EVERYTHING! It was cool but a little overwhelming so we didn't buy much. We took the bus there and it was free, they never came to take our money which was kinda weird but great! Getting out of the market was another story. We couldn't figure out how to take the bus back south, we walked around and almost died crossing the street for about an hour until we gave in and took a tuk tuk. Tuk tuk's should only be about 30 baht(1 dollar) but of course we always end up paying more even if we haggle. Luckily, we shared the tuk tuk with a woman who was going the same way we were so we could spilt the cost.

That night we went to a Muy Thai (sp) fight! It was pretty neat. The fighters were so little! They got bigger as the fights went on(there were 9 fights) but the heaviest was 135 maybe? That's my size! The smallest were around 100lbs. Crazy! We took the subway part way home and it was so nice! It was less than a dollar and it was clean and air conditioned. Then we took a tuk tuk the rest of the way. It was night and pouring so we thought we would have to pay a lot but it was only 100 baht for both and we had to go all the way across the city.

Day three was a pretty chill day. We stayed at a different hostel because it was right across from the train station and we were taking an overnight train to Chumpon the next night. There wasn't much to do around the station so we walked awhile to Siam square which is right by the university. It was a younger crowd and there is a huge mall there (MBK) which was like the market but inside. We had probably the worst food in the world there. We stopped at this noddle place and I have no idea what we were eating. We couldn't do it, it was so gross! Don't eat in malls in Bangkok apparently!

Day four was definitely more exciting. We went for a walk and met a guy in the air force in Thailand and also a city official in charge of the parks. We went to Lumphini park and it was so cool! First off, it was a really nice park but it also had these lizards, the guy compared them to Komodo Dragons, they were huge and just walking around free in this city park. The park is 90 years old and has a pond that the lizards swam in and they looked like huge snakes! Pretty scary. We have pictures, don't worry they will be up soon!

We also got Thai massages which were really cool. Steve's woman walked on his back and did lots of crazy stuff. Mine wasn't as intense, good thing because I probably would have been crushed!

We also ate at the train station for lunch and dinner...it was some of the best food! Hopefully that isn't what made us sick later though. It was a little food court in the train station. Steve's food was the best, it was mixed with chili sauce, yum!

That night we had an overnight train, it was pretty rough. There were cockroaches all over and it was freezing! There was this group of french girls who were TERRIFIED of the cockroaches so they wouldn't sit in the seats, they sat on the floors instead...not so smart I don't think.

We got to Chumpon at 6am and then took a bus and a ferry to Koh Tao(9/6/2011)!

A little trouble with posts..

I am labeling this by days as if I will post on every day, probably not possible, but we'll see. We'll be adding pics soon I promise! the internet is kinda sketch at this place so I can't add any pictures now. We are headed to Kho Tao tonight so I will try to charge my computer so that I can catch up on Bangkok!

Day 1:

So our first day we walked A LOT! Steve and I were calculating it and we are thinking around 11 or 12 miles, maybe more. But, we got to see A LOT. We saw the Grand Palace and it was pretty insane. We ended up getting a tour, we kinda got ripped off (not surprising) but we learned some really interesting stuff. For one, there are influences from not only Buddhism but also Hinduism as well. We thought that was pretty cool. Then we walked to the reclining Buddha, HUGE. Next we walked to China Town. What a cluster cuss. There are all these little allies that have stalls on both sides and then people driving through on mopeds with boxes and bundles strapped to the back 10 feet high, NUTS! We then walked to Golden mountain which was such a peaceful place. It is a monastery in the middle of Bangkok that has 300 something stairs to the top and you can look over all of Bangkok. You can even ring the gong! It was real loud! Finally we walked home (got a tad lost on the way) and rested for a bit.

Bangkok is so large and there are so many people! The street food looks (and is) amazing! Tuk Tuk's (the little motorcycle taxis) are everywhere and the roads are nuts. There are lines and lights but no one follows them, not even buses. Tuk Tuk's drive in and out of traffic and get almost destroyed quite often. We've rode on a couple and they're really fun!

During the evening we walked down to Khao San Road which is the backpacker paradise apparently and it was crazy. It reminded both of us of New York and there are people everywhere trying to sell you stuff including Ping Pong shows...weird. But there is GREAT Pad Thai and freshly cut pineapple. Yum! We stopped at a place on the side of the street and had a couple beers. We ended up talking to a guy from France, one from Italy, and one from Germany. The guy form Germany is headed to Burma, good luck to him! The night ended up being fun but exhausting so we got back to our hostel pretty early and went to bed. Good first day!

MG

Bangkok: Arrival!

So we are finally in Thailand! This trip is long awaited and I still don't think either of us believe it yet. Bangkok is pretty crazy. Our trip started off really well, the 20+ hours on a plane or in an airport actually weren't too bad. The Taiwan airport was pretty cool. There was a whole orchid area and Hello Kitty was everywhere. I kinda love plane food(weird I know) and we both slept a decent amount. We met a guy on the plane named Pom who is from Bangkok but had actually just been in Denver going to school for his Masters for the past year, small world!

We got to the airport, got in a car and got to our awesome guesthouse. We stayed at Sivarin Guesthouse for the 1st 3 days and it was wonderful! The woman at the desk was so helpful and nice, and the place was on an ally that had a monastery on it and it was removed from the main street. We walked around for about an hour but decided to take a short nap...big mistake. We meant to wake up by 4pm and we woke up at 10pm and 2am. Ha, but we actually slept til 630 and then we were up for the day.

-MG