I just got back from the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) near Lampang and I can't describe how amazing it was. We arrived Friday morning and immediately felt welcomed into the center. We met the other people who were doing the homestay program with us and they were super nice. One couple from Canada (Marnie and Ron) and one couple from Liverpool (Hue and Alison). We had a short tour of where we were staying and the layout of the center. There are 50 elephants on the site with 2 Mahouts (elephant trainer) per elephant. All of the elephants are Asian elephants. There is also an elephant hospital where sick elephants from all over Thailand go to be cared for. Each mahout lives on site with there families, making the center feel quite 'homey'. We were introduced to our Mahout and our own elephant. We were also dressed in a mahout outfit (I guess it helps the elephants distinguish who's who at the center). My Mahout's name was 'Teet' and my elephant's name was 'Lukhon'. Lukhon was HUGE. She could have easily taken on Julie's.
Anyway, our first training session was very basic, with the key lesson of how to mount and dismout your elephant! Dang. It looked easy when they did - my first try was a failed attempt. Basically you tell the elephant 'Song Soon' and it bends its front right leg forming two steps for the mahout. One on the back of the foot and one on its knee. Then you grab its ear and a chunk of skin and hoist your self up. Harder than it sounds. To get off you just do the opposite (the first time i just slid down the side of Lukhon). So, I practiced getting on her this way for a while - until I was informed that there were numerous options of doing so. Like simply telling the elephant to lie down - MUCH easier. I think my favorite way was telling Lukhon to bow down to me and then taking a running start at her head and playing leap frog to get on. After she stands up - I just turned around - (to get off this way, you command then to bow down "tong soon" and then slide off between her eyes) - SO FUN!
When we are on top of the elephant we sit right up close to there heads, bend our knees on the top of their ears, and use are feet to tell them what to do along with voice commands. These animals (or let me restate that - Lukhon) was extremely obediant and well behaved to their mahouts. Their trainers would talk to them like they were in conversation to another person, and the elephants would do exaclty what they wanted. The animals even knew the voice of their mahout - so there was no confusion on a field with 10 mahouts! So after the mount and dismount were almost mastered - we were trained to command the elephants where and when to walk - forwards or backwards, as well as pick things up for us (shoes, waterbottles, etc).
Once we were done training for the day, it was time to take our elephants out into the forest for the night. On our way, we had to stop for a bath (not my FAVORITE part of the homestay, but nonetheless, a part of it). Basically, we walked into the water while riding our elephant and told it to sit or lie down while we were on it washing it (let me tell you, the water was far from clear and elephants don't know how to 'hold it in'- EW). Soaked from my neck down. I could feel the parasites entering my body. After the bath, and a long walk into the forest, we dropped our elephants off and hiked back. On my hike back, my mahout heard a sound and left me in the forest by myself for 10 minutes. That was fun. But I guess to make up for it - for the rest of the homestay he kept making me crafts from leaves. First he made me a hat, and then a bird, and then a fish, and then a fish eating a bird. Quite the multi-talented man!
At night, we all met at our cabin and cooked dinner for the group (well, by saying 'cook' I mean that I chopped some vegetables for them). The people in our group were extremely nice and interesting. One girl studied primates in Madagascar, and one couple were travelling on bikes, around the world, for a total of 2 years! There was also some card playing going on... I swear the guy said POKER but then he delt me 1/3 of the deck... it took me at least 5 games to figure out what to do and how to play - it was a rendition of BIG 2 - but with some quirky rules. Hard when we can't understand each other.
In the morning we had to hike back out in our wet mahout suits (later deemed 'masuits' by Ron) to find our elephant. On our walk back - we had yet another bath (yay) and it was during this bath that we learned about the ability to tell you animal when and where to shoot water from its trunk. NOT FUN AT 7AM.
We gave the elephants another bath a few hours later for a bunch of tourists visiting the center for the day. It was really interesting to be on the other side of the table for once (i.e. tourists watching us). I know for a fact we are in at least 50 pictures! Anyway... the day was spent working with our elephants again. In the afternoon we visited the elephant hospital - it was fascinating and devestating at the same time. So many were sick because of human influences - gun shots, land mines, abuse, and over working them. BOOOOO. On a good note, the center seems to be doing an amazing job at helping these animals (there were 2 young babies while we were there).
On our last day at the center - we helped with the show that they put on for the tourists. So fun! To sum it up - the last 3 days were absolutely wonderful. Hard to explain. I would recommend this place to everyone! (www.changthai.com). WOW.
So now, back in Chiang Mai - we might do a cooking course, and then head up to a place called PAI (supposedly some great hikes in a small town).. as of now.. we have nothing scheduled and nowhere to be anytime soon (except for our flight back home). We are flying by the seat of our pants now!!! (quite a good feeling)..... take care everyone...TL
21 May, 2006
17 May, 2006
SAWADEE KA!
Julie and I had our first motorbike experience the other day. Its 4 bucks for 24 hours - good deal! We only rented one - I drove, she held on... we got an automatic, so basically its like an overpowered scooter. I'm not gonna lie, the first few hundred minutes were a bit shaky - but after that - we were flyin' (well, not really, I went really slow).
So after I got up the steepest hill ever, we went to go find the Phaeng Waterfall National Park on Ko Phan-Gan. On the way there, we got lost 2 times but eventually found the place. We hiked up one of the highest peaks on the island (maybe 400 m up). It was a super nice view of the island - sooooooooooooo many palm trees. On the hike down we stopped off at the waterfall to swim in one of the pools. The water (still warmer than the lake) was so refreshing. We could actually feel the difference between the temperature of the water and the air - yessssssssss.
On our way home, we got lost again. On one of our turnarounds we actually came across this guy walking an elephant across the road. In my opinion, the sight was well worth the 40 minute detour. It turns out that we did make it back to our bungalow before night fall, however - it was via a different route on the island. I think we will rent them more often, especially in places where its quiet - they are such a good, relaxing way to see what real Thailand is all about...
That night, we took our HOG into town and went for dinner. 9:30 was the starting time of our first MUAY THAI (Thai Boxing Match). There were 7 fights, 5 rounds each, and each round was 3 minutes. In Muay Thai - it seemed like anything goes - kicks to the face, knees to the ribs, etc.
We arrived early and got front row seats - you know, the sweat and blood seats! The night started out with young Thai boxers (about 12 or 13 year old) fighting. Before each match, there was a lot of praying, and some heavy duty superstitious rituals going on. The announcer was speaking 90 miles an hour - barely ever in english - but the one thing I did pick up (during a slow part of a round) was 'Dancing, dancing, this is not dancing, its BOXING'!
One of the matches was even girls going atter'! I felt sorry for this one girl - she looked like 12 years old and maybe 110 pounds, while this other girl was maybe 25, 170 and solid. It was quite entertaining - Jules and I screamed 'Go Little One!' the whole time.
As the night went on, the boxers got bigger and stronger. There was definitley times that we got sprayed with sweat (EW), and even a few time where I swear the guys were going to fall over the ropes and into our laps - quite intense. After the fight, we hopped on our Harley and got groceries from the store and put them in our basket (yes, thats right, our bike had a basket - sweeeeeeeeeeeet!).
After that night, it was time to say goodbye to Island Life (sigh). The next day we took a boat to Surat Thani (about 4 hours). It was packed so we had to sit outside on the deck. We then waited at the dock for over an hour. A bus came and we took it to another bus stop and waited there for an hour (this 'Thai Time' really gets to you sometimes). Finally we hopped on a bus to Bangkok. It was absolutely full. Extremely uncomfortable. So these busses always make these random stops on the side of the road, or it takes them over an hour to get gas (which we will sometimes stop for 10 minutes into the ride - you'd think they'd fill up before a big trip?). Anyway - we arrived in Bangkok this morning at 4am - what a great time! We picked up our passports from a travel agency with our visas for China and Vietnam (HUGE sigh of relief there). And tonight we take a train up to Chiang Mai to meet up with Julia and Adrienne again. We invested a bit more Baht into this ride - supposedly we get beds. I'm a tad skeptical.
So after I got up the steepest hill ever, we went to go find the Phaeng Waterfall National Park on Ko Phan-Gan. On the way there, we got lost 2 times but eventually found the place. We hiked up one of the highest peaks on the island (maybe 400 m up). It was a super nice view of the island - sooooooooooooo many palm trees. On the hike down we stopped off at the waterfall to swim in one of the pools. The water (still warmer than the lake) was so refreshing. We could actually feel the difference between the temperature of the water and the air - yessssssssss.
On our way home, we got lost again. On one of our turnarounds we actually came across this guy walking an elephant across the road. In my opinion, the sight was well worth the 40 minute detour. It turns out that we did make it back to our bungalow before night fall, however - it was via a different route on the island. I think we will rent them more often, especially in places where its quiet - they are such a good, relaxing way to see what real Thailand is all about...
That night, we took our HOG into town and went for dinner. 9:30 was the starting time of our first MUAY THAI (Thai Boxing Match). There were 7 fights, 5 rounds each, and each round was 3 minutes. In Muay Thai - it seemed like anything goes - kicks to the face, knees to the ribs, etc.
We arrived early and got front row seats - you know, the sweat and blood seats! The night started out with young Thai boxers (about 12 or 13 year old) fighting. Before each match, there was a lot of praying, and some heavy duty superstitious rituals going on. The announcer was speaking 90 miles an hour - barely ever in english - but the one thing I did pick up (during a slow part of a round) was 'Dancing, dancing, this is not dancing, its BOXING'!
One of the matches was even girls going atter'! I felt sorry for this one girl - she looked like 12 years old and maybe 110 pounds, while this other girl was maybe 25, 170 and solid. It was quite entertaining - Jules and I screamed 'Go Little One!' the whole time.
As the night went on, the boxers got bigger and stronger. There was definitley times that we got sprayed with sweat (EW), and even a few time where I swear the guys were going to fall over the ropes and into our laps - quite intense. After the fight, we hopped on our Harley and got groceries from the store and put them in our basket (yes, thats right, our bike had a basket - sweeeeeeeeeeeet!).
After that night, it was time to say goodbye to Island Life (sigh). The next day we took a boat to Surat Thani (about 4 hours). It was packed so we had to sit outside on the deck. We then waited at the dock for over an hour. A bus came and we took it to another bus stop and waited there for an hour (this 'Thai Time' really gets to you sometimes). Finally we hopped on a bus to Bangkok. It was absolutely full. Extremely uncomfortable. So these busses always make these random stops on the side of the road, or it takes them over an hour to get gas (which we will sometimes stop for 10 minutes into the ride - you'd think they'd fill up before a big trip?). Anyway - we arrived in Bangkok this morning at 4am - what a great time! We picked up our passports from a travel agency with our visas for China and Vietnam (HUGE sigh of relief there). And tonight we take a train up to Chiang Mai to meet up with Julia and Adrienne again. We invested a bit more Baht into this ride - supposedly we get beds. I'm a tad skeptical.
14 May, 2006
"I NOT DODGY"
WOW! Where do I start? We headed over to Koh Phan-Gan on the 11th of May and had absolutely NO idea where we were going to stay. We knew the island was going to be busy with the Full Moon Party approaching so were kind of nervous not having any reservations. Anyway as we were docking we were approached by this Thai guy who sais 'come stay at my bungalows, very nice, very beautiful, I not dodgy, look at me, I'm not a businessman, I'm wearing shorts!' So, we went. Turns out the place is great. Its a bit off of the beaten path (on the western side of the island a bit above the port town Thong Sala) but no complaints here. There's a pool at the place and we are staying in this little bungalow right on the beach. Its open air, so a mosquito net is KEY, and our bathroom is kinda on the outside. Theres newts on our roof, and toads by the toilet - other than that - its great! Well - there was this one little incident involving a lizard. Kinda nasty actually. Heres the story and ensuing conversation:
Julie bought this sarong a few days ago (like 4 bucks) and she hung it out to dry one day- she checked it that night before we went to bed (she wasn't wearing her glasses) and she screams at me
J: "Tina, a lizard poo'd on my new sarong"
T: "How do you know it was a lizard"
J: "Cause its right beside its poo, its a really big poo though, come see it"
T: "NO"
J: "PLeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese, you have to"
(Julie and I have this deal that she takes care of insects and I take care of reptiles - soon to be a very bad deal for my part)
So, I go out there to check this out and it turns out that the lizard actually doesn't have a head (its kinda mushed beside it - a better definition would be decapitated- which is why it wasn't moving - and we still don't know what the 'poo' beside it was. I flipped the poor little bugger over to find out that it wasn't its guts! The worst part was - Julie was too attached to this stupid sarong that she wouldn't throw it out - now she wears it and it has lizard head stains on it - EWWWWWWW....!!!
So ya - Everyone at this place is super nice - staff and other travellers included. The first day there we just relaxed and hung out. On the second day, we taxi'd to the pier to meet Julia and Adrienne, two girls that we have been planning on meeting up with for a long time, both from UBC (including one fellow islander!). That night we headed down to the south of the island to Haat Rin. Shopping was good and it was great to eat some dinner NOT from the resteraunt at the bungalows. On our walk back to the taxi's we happened to run into a common friend of ours (also and islander and UBCer) and his friends - which was SUPER COOL - as communication and trying to actually organize a meeting place amongst travellers is always tricky (the best reunions are always random anyway).
OK - so yesterday - the 13th of May - the night of the Full Moon Party was crazy. We spent the day resting and relaxing by the beach and had a big dinner with lots of others party goers... We took a taxi (AKA the back of a pick up truck with make shift benches in it) to Haat Rin - all I can say is that I am glad to be alive. There were 13 people in the bed of the truck wtih me and Julie being on the very ends (sorry Mom). The road to Haat Rin is very, very hilly as well - so in the middle of the biggest hill, we came to a complete stop, rolled backwards about 6 feet and then peeled off again. Slightly scary! Needless to say, we all arrived at the party safe and sound!
So, this Full Moon Party (FMP) - is absolutely insane. It's actually kind of outta control, and I think most people go, just to say that they have been to one. I mean thousands of people flock to this one beach, once a month, to drink out of BUCKETS and see how stupid they can be. We ended up helping this one guy passed out in the sand to a safe spot so no one would step on him - but literally, we just had to leave him there. There was nothing else we could do, he had no friends nearby - so we just left him with water. Yowsers. However - there were some highlights of the night - like some guy pointing at me and saying "you go to UBC don't you" and it turns out we study beside each other in Wood and he knows Dave and Krystie (it was Jason and his friends). So fun! We ate banana/nutella pancakes at 330am, and a chicken sandwich at about 4am (yes, my first street meat was a great success)! We 'taxi'd' home at about 5am - much safer this time - just a little tired... I went to sleep before Julie did and when she came in there was one of the places cats on the bed with me (EW, I don't know HOW it got in, but Julie threw it out for me). There were some other high/lowlights of the FMP - but to some it all up - everyone was safe, nothing got stolen, and we were tired.
Today we basically did nothing but eat and swim at the pool. Tonight we decided to walk into the port town (Thong Sala) to use some cheap(er) internet and book our tickets off of this island (probably in a few days). Tomorrow we might venture into the fine art of renting motorbikes and touring around the island, maybe doing a hike up to a waterfall - who knows - whatever we are feeling in the morning!
Time for dinner - hope everyone is doing well back home. And, before I forget, and most importantly HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM - YOU'RE THE BEST - I LOVE YOU!
TL
Julie bought this sarong a few days ago (like 4 bucks) and she hung it out to dry one day- she checked it that night before we went to bed (she wasn't wearing her glasses) and she screams at me
J: "Tina, a lizard poo'd on my new sarong"
T: "How do you know it was a lizard"
J: "Cause its right beside its poo, its a really big poo though, come see it"
T: "NO"
J: "PLeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese, you have to"
(Julie and I have this deal that she takes care of insects and I take care of reptiles - soon to be a very bad deal for my part)
So, I go out there to check this out and it turns out that the lizard actually doesn't have a head (its kinda mushed beside it - a better definition would be decapitated- which is why it wasn't moving - and we still don't know what the 'poo' beside it was. I flipped the poor little bugger over to find out that it wasn't its guts! The worst part was - Julie was too attached to this stupid sarong that she wouldn't throw it out - now she wears it and it has lizard head stains on it - EWWWWWWW....!!!
So ya - Everyone at this place is super nice - staff and other travellers included. The first day there we just relaxed and hung out. On the second day, we taxi'd to the pier to meet Julia and Adrienne, two girls that we have been planning on meeting up with for a long time, both from UBC (including one fellow islander!). That night we headed down to the south of the island to Haat Rin. Shopping was good and it was great to eat some dinner NOT from the resteraunt at the bungalows. On our walk back to the taxi's we happened to run into a common friend of ours (also and islander and UBCer) and his friends - which was SUPER COOL - as communication and trying to actually organize a meeting place amongst travellers is always tricky (the best reunions are always random anyway).
OK - so yesterday - the 13th of May - the night of the Full Moon Party was crazy. We spent the day resting and relaxing by the beach and had a big dinner with lots of others party goers... We took a taxi (AKA the back of a pick up truck with make shift benches in it) to Haat Rin - all I can say is that I am glad to be alive. There were 13 people in the bed of the truck wtih me and Julie being on the very ends (sorry Mom). The road to Haat Rin is very, very hilly as well - so in the middle of the biggest hill, we came to a complete stop, rolled backwards about 6 feet and then peeled off again. Slightly scary! Needless to say, we all arrived at the party safe and sound!
So, this Full Moon Party (FMP) - is absolutely insane. It's actually kind of outta control, and I think most people go, just to say that they have been to one. I mean thousands of people flock to this one beach, once a month, to drink out of BUCKETS and see how stupid they can be. We ended up helping this one guy passed out in the sand to a safe spot so no one would step on him - but literally, we just had to leave him there. There was nothing else we could do, he had no friends nearby - so we just left him with water. Yowsers. However - there were some highlights of the night - like some guy pointing at me and saying "you go to UBC don't you" and it turns out we study beside each other in Wood and he knows Dave and Krystie (it was Jason and his friends). So fun! We ate banana/nutella pancakes at 330am, and a chicken sandwich at about 4am (yes, my first street meat was a great success)! We 'taxi'd' home at about 5am - much safer this time - just a little tired... I went to sleep before Julie did and when she came in there was one of the places cats on the bed with me (EW, I don't know HOW it got in, but Julie threw it out for me). There were some other high/lowlights of the FMP - but to some it all up - everyone was safe, nothing got stolen, and we were tired.
Today we basically did nothing but eat and swim at the pool. Tonight we decided to walk into the port town (Thong Sala) to use some cheap(er) internet and book our tickets off of this island (probably in a few days). Tomorrow we might venture into the fine art of renting motorbikes and touring around the island, maybe doing a hike up to a waterfall - who knows - whatever we are feeling in the morning!
Time for dinner - hope everyone is doing well back home. And, before I forget, and most importantly HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM - YOU'RE THE BEST - I LOVE YOU!
TL
09 May, 2006
DONE diving!
I finished my Open Water PADI course yesterday. We did 4 dives in two days at different spots around the island - it was absolutely amazing (no whale shark though)! We did see a ton of other things though: baracudas, blue spotted sting rays, squid, and what seemed like a gazillion other types of fish (including Nemo). So if anyones looking for a dive partner when I get back - game ON! On our last day of diving they had a videographer come with us and film us throughout the day - I attemped the somersault entry into the water with all my gear - I would consider it a success... So last night, they played it on the big screen at the bar - it was really neat to see yourself diving under the water - and the footage of the fish was great.
So today we are just hanging around Koh Tao - with diving I didn't have much of an oppurtunity to do any 'exploring' on the island - so thats what today is for! Tomorrow we are heading to Ko Phangan on a morning boat (about an hour and a half) and plan on staying there for a few days. I think its a bit more developed than Koh Tao but still it should be sooo FUN. The weather is scorching - like 35 without humidity - and you don't cool off when you jump into the ocean, or have a swim in a pool, or take a 'cold shower' - as they are all about 30/31 degrees. Alrighty, time to go check things out..... TL
So today we are just hanging around Koh Tao - with diving I didn't have much of an oppurtunity to do any 'exploring' on the island - so thats what today is for! Tomorrow we are heading to Ko Phangan on a morning boat (about an hour and a half) and plan on staying there for a few days. I think its a bit more developed than Koh Tao but still it should be sooo FUN. The weather is scorching - like 35 without humidity - and you don't cool off when you jump into the ocean, or have a swim in a pool, or take a 'cold shower' - as they are all about 30/31 degrees. Alrighty, time to go check things out..... TL
07 May, 2006
DIVING ON KOH TAO
Greetings from Turtle Island! (Koh means 'island', Tao means 'turtle')
After a very long, hard to sleep on, bus ride from Bangkok to Chumphon we are finally here! The bus ride was about 8 hours while the boat ride was about 2 (featuring Thai karoke as well). We had no idea our boat stop until some guy came on the boat yelling 'Koh Tao Koh Tao, get off now', so Jules and grabbed our bags and hopped off to be welcomed by an absolutely beautiful Island. There are no paved roads, tons of great places to eat, and the people are super friendly! Its a tad more expensive than Bangkok, but thats only to be expected (by saying this i mean breakfast is a dollar rather than 75 cents). I started my PADI Open Water dive course yesterday. My instructor is from Britain and she has two assistants (soon to be instructors) - one from Thailand and the other from Britain - there's only 4 of us taking the course (all from different countries), so we get lots of attention! (The last course she taught there was 12 - yikes!). Tomorrow we do 2 of our 4 open ocean dives - I'm realllllly excited. Theres tons to see out here and the water is really clear! And then the next day we finish our last 2 open water dives - a filmer comes with us, then apparently we celebrate that night at the bar while watching ourselves dive at 60 feet on a big screen TV - should be 'interesting' to say the least...
Well, I'm starving - time for some dinner...hope to hear from you all soon!
TL
After a very long, hard to sleep on, bus ride from Bangkok to Chumphon we are finally here! The bus ride was about 8 hours while the boat ride was about 2 (featuring Thai karoke as well). We had no idea our boat stop until some guy came on the boat yelling 'Koh Tao Koh Tao, get off now', so Jules and grabbed our bags and hopped off to be welcomed by an absolutely beautiful Island. There are no paved roads, tons of great places to eat, and the people are super friendly! Its a tad more expensive than Bangkok, but thats only to be expected (by saying this i mean breakfast is a dollar rather than 75 cents). I started my PADI Open Water dive course yesterday. My instructor is from Britain and she has two assistants (soon to be instructors) - one from Thailand and the other from Britain - there's only 4 of us taking the course (all from different countries), so we get lots of attention! (The last course she taught there was 12 - yikes!). Tomorrow we do 2 of our 4 open ocean dives - I'm realllllly excited. Theres tons to see out here and the water is really clear! And then the next day we finish our last 2 open water dives - a filmer comes with us, then apparently we celebrate that night at the bar while watching ourselves dive at 60 feet on a big screen TV - should be 'interesting' to say the least...
Well, I'm starving - time for some dinner...hope to hear from you all soon!
TL
04 May, 2006
BANGKOK!
Greetings from Bangkok!
Julie and I finally arrived after about a 30 hour travel day consisting of no english movies, intersting food, and a sleep on the beijing airports concrete floor...
Bangkok is HOT... it was 31 degrees when we stepped off the plane last night at 1:30am!
The cab ride from the airport to khao san road was 'fun', the nightlife never ends in this area...and at about 3 am we finally settled down to sleep.
So this morning we got up and started to do a little exploring...we hired a tuk tuk driver named Ken (or something similar to that) and he took us everywhere, claimed it would only cost us 10 baht each (which is like 30 cents). So, knowing that there was some sort of catch, Julie and I were IN! Sure enough, Ken took us everywhere, a big huge standing buddha, the lucky buddha - where a man took us around and showed us everything there he then showed us how to pray and lit some incense for us. Wished us LUCK and GOOD HEALTH on our trip!! So, next Ken decided us take us to TOP TEN FASHIONS (this is the scam part) where we had to go in and look at 'beautiful silks' and in return he would get free gas (4litres). So we did, but when we came out (like 2 mintes later) he said we were too quick and he got no gas... so he asked us if we could go to another fashion store up the road and take longer.... so in this store jules and i had a blast: we were picking out colours and patterns, asking prices, etc etc - we decided to leave when the guy wanted my measurments.... ken got his free gas... he was a much happier tuk tuk driver! He then took us the grand palace.. but we could'nt go in, we found out tomorrow is a holiday so there is some ceremony going on....maybe some other time!
I booked my diving open water course.... we leave tomorrow night for the island of ko tao. Thats about all my news so far...... excited to get out of the city.... get some FRESH air... its dirty here!
TL
Julie and I finally arrived after about a 30 hour travel day consisting of no english movies, intersting food, and a sleep on the beijing airports concrete floor...
Bangkok is HOT... it was 31 degrees when we stepped off the plane last night at 1:30am!
The cab ride from the airport to khao san road was 'fun', the nightlife never ends in this area...and at about 3 am we finally settled down to sleep.
So this morning we got up and started to do a little exploring...we hired a tuk tuk driver named Ken (or something similar to that) and he took us everywhere, claimed it would only cost us 10 baht each (which is like 30 cents). So, knowing that there was some sort of catch, Julie and I were IN! Sure enough, Ken took us everywhere, a big huge standing buddha, the lucky buddha - where a man took us around and showed us everything there he then showed us how to pray and lit some incense for us. Wished us LUCK and GOOD HEALTH on our trip!! So, next Ken decided us take us to TOP TEN FASHIONS (this is the scam part) where we had to go in and look at 'beautiful silks' and in return he would get free gas (4litres). So we did, but when we came out (like 2 mintes later) he said we were too quick and he got no gas... so he asked us if we could go to another fashion store up the road and take longer.... so in this store jules and i had a blast: we were picking out colours and patterns, asking prices, etc etc - we decided to leave when the guy wanted my measurments.... ken got his free gas... he was a much happier tuk tuk driver! He then took us the grand palace.. but we could'nt go in, we found out tomorrow is a holiday so there is some ceremony going on....maybe some other time!
I booked my diving open water course.... we leave tomorrow night for the island of ko tao. Thats about all my news so far...... excited to get out of the city.... get some FRESH air... its dirty here!
TL
01 April, 2006
HELLO!
I am slowly figuring out how to work this blog stuff....
So Julie and I leave for SE Asia pretty soon. We fly into Bangkok, Thailand and plan to travel throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. On our way home we are scheduled to spend about a week in the city of Beijing, China.
I have high hopes for Julie being an absolutely amazing travel partner. Together, I think we will make a great team, although she is SUPER impatient...
Here is a pic of me and her in Cuba in December... you can check out her blog at http://julielittle.blogspot.com. Don't forget to 'comment' - I'd LOVE to hear from you...
TL
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