Bangkok, round II

Bangkok, here we come!!!

Suzie and I took the ferry from Koh Phangan to Surat Thani, and then hopped on a night train to Bangkok. We arrive at our couchsurfer’s house by trekking through a park filled with tents from the protests. We got out of there quick! Our host was an entrepreneurial business man who traveled as he wished and was staying in the Marriot Executive Apartments. Wow, what a change from our last living sitch! We chatted with our host Ryan and his friend Tom for a bit, and then, surprise, two more couchsurfers showed up! Two girls from the Ukraine. We had actually seen these girls on the ferry from Koh Phangan to Surat Thani. What a small world! So the four of us took off to explore the reclining Buddha.

Later we made tacos for our host and starts playing some drinking games. Around 10 pm 3 more girl couchsurfers walked in! They we’re from Vietnam going to school in Singapore. I’ve never been with so many cuchsurfers on one couch! We hit a club and crawled into bed around 3 only to wake up at 7:30 the next day!

Today was TIGER TEMPLE! We started off thinking about renting a car. That quickly changed to grabbing ham and cheese toasties at 7 Eleven and hopping in a cab heading towards the Southern Bus Station. From there we bussed to Kanchanaburi and hopped on a local bus for the 40 min ride to Tiger Temple. It was 2 o’clock by now and the Tiger Temple closed at 3 (really 3:30, but the taxi driver told us 3 in attempt to convince us we HAD to go with him). I was praying we’d make it on time, especially after the hour taxi and 2.5 hour bus ride.

There are no bus stops for the local bus. All you do is stand on the side of the street and when the bus sees you, it’ll honk. If you start waving your arms, “poof!” you’re standing at a bus stop. To get off the bus you hop up, run to the front, and, for us, yell “Tiger Temple! Tiger Temple!” We were let off on the road and still had 2 km down a dirt road. We lucky hitchhiked with a minibus and arrived at the temple gates with ten minutes to spare. All is good : ) The tigers were soooooo cool! We were lead around to pet about eight different tigers. I may or may not have gone twice ; )

 

 

When walking the tigers back to their cages, the one in front of us made a weird noise, put up its tail, and sprayed Suzie! Now, I guess she is his territory. We were told it was good luck. So hopefully we'd make it back to Bangkok by sunset!

Our travels back weren’t nearly as chaotic. We haggled with a mini bus driver for a ride to Bangkok. Our starting price was 300 each. The language barrier was to our advantage because he would take nothing less than a whopping 500 for both!  That night we explore Kohsand Road and saw fried scorpions! No way Jose was I trying that!

For our last night, we swapped couches and stayed with a lovely guy from New York. We celebrated his birthday by seeing Robocop (much better than I expected), and grabbed drinks at a roof top bar.  Tomorrow we’re exploring the largest market in Bangkok and then it’s a night train to Laos.

Koh Phangan

If islands were parties, Koh Phangan would be the end-of-the-year, 5 keggar celebration.

We were surprised at the size of the island. This was no Koh Tao. So, when in Rome, we rented another motorbike!

We started our adventures by exploring the infamous Amsterdam Bar/Mushroom Mountain. It was a brilliant place to watch the sunset. We met our roommate, Bobby (Rob officially), a 18 year old, wide-eyed, kid from England. Suzie and I adopted him as our little brother.

During the day, we all explored the island in a hunt for the perfect beach. That night started off slow by playing some pool, but a few beers later, a 10 minute boat ride, and some good music we found ourselves on Eden, a secret beach, watching the sun rise over the ocean. It was an unforgettable night filled with many new friends.

Beginning of the night...

End of the night...

Note: Ignore the nose patch, minor scuba accident which is now mostly healed.

Today was a good day to be tired. Suzie and I slept the whole boat ride and most of the bus ride to the Surat Thani train station. I was a little worried at one point when our bus turned onto a dirt road. This is about the moment when I read "Get off ASAP, they robbed me for everything I had except this pen". Normally I would think this was just a silly joke, but as we're approaching what looks like abandon warehouses I started getting a little worried. On arrival, the bus driver announced a 20 minute break for toilets and food. I still wasn't convinced I would survive the day until another bus showed up. Needless to say, we made it to the train station. Boy, got to love the Thai way! Now, we're on a night train to Bangkok.

 

Note to self: do not drop anything in the toilet, it will forever sit on the train tracks with all the rest of the passengers’ disposable waste.

Scuba Island

Koh Tao is a cute, little island north of Ko Phangan known for its cheap diving. Every turn you make, there's a scuba shop staring you in the face. The island reminds me a lot of Paros, Greece. It's fairly quiet on one side and a party island on the other. Pick your place. Suzie and I rented a motorbike and snorkel gear. Ha! What a sight! The two of us crammed on one scooter with snorkels coming out of my backpack and fins in Suzie's hands. We discovered Freedom Beach which quickly became our favorite beach on the island. Between its clear water, single beach bar, and coral mobiles hanging from the trees it was the place to be.

 

Now we're off to party central: Ko Phangan.

All the Wonderful Fruit!

I found this poster in a restaurant with all the wonderful fruit I want to try. 15 down, 21 to go! Hope I can find them all before I fly home!

Night Boat from Hell

We met a nice couple in Chumphon who also had the whole day to kill before their train left. We got the best travel tip so far. The girl told us to go ahead and buy the more expensive night boat to Koh Tao. She mentioned how she was nervous on the cheap, small boat as there was only one exit, and hundreds of people crammed in the boat. Not thinking much about it, we spent the extra dollar. Our boat left at 11pm and arrived at 5 am.

Around 2:30 in the morning I awoke to an ear shattering crash! Shit, are we going under? I heard the crash again and the boat was rocking side to side like a rollercoaster. We were rolling in our bunk beds hoping our luggage was too heavy to roll off! I thought I was going to meet my maker that night. I heard another crashing wave on the boat and wondered if this was normal. I wanted to go to the deck and see the night swell, but instead I stayed huddled under my covers for fear of falling off the deck. All I could think about was how lucky we were to get the bigger boat. I couldn't imagine being on any smaller boat. I defiantly now know what our traveling friend was talking about.

Sometime between crashes I'd fallen asleep only to wake up again at 4am. I was so happy to know we only had an hour left. The waters have to calm down as we get closer, right? Needless to say, we made it to Koh Tao, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this.

Never again will I take the night boat from

Mystery Island

This is the true definition of paradise. This is where people go to escape. This is where there are no showers, but only a hose. All the accommodations are full, but you only see a handful of people on the whole stretch of beach. You’re morning alarm clock is replaced with the squawking of roosters. Every bungalow has a gecko, and you find little presents in your bed in the afternoon. This is where your biggest daily responsibility is to find the reservoir, hike to the ranger station, read a book, or journal. Most things and food are handmade. The island only has electricity from 6 pm to 9:30 pm. The only way off this island is a longtail boat that comes twice a day. To catch the boat, you must stand on shore, wave your arms, and jump up and down until it sees you. This is where life is simple; you eat when you’re hungry, you sleep when you’re tired, and make new friends every day.

Everyone has a different reason to be here. Some are escaping their old life, some were born on the island, other people vacation here, some come for a week but stay for a lifetime, some visit friends, and some, like us, stumble upon it by mistake. A friend of Suzie’s suggested we go to an island with the same name but to our surprise, the suggestion was for a northeast Thai island and we are in the southwest. It was a pleasant surprise and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve met so many beautiful souls of all ages and from all over (but defiantly a lot of German). We swam in the ocean, did yoga on the beach, explored the tide pools, discovered the reservoir, tasted cashew wine, trekked through a cashew plantation and stopped to try the fruit, saw rubber trees tapped for their sap, and even found time to sit down for a beer and hear other travelers’ stories.

 

 

This island draws a specific type of person. Materialist, over-consuming people wouldn't fit in. It's for people who enjoy simple times, people who don't need much in their life but a bed to sleep in and a roof over their head. It's refreshing. It’s nice to force yourself to relax and have no worries at all. I hope this island never changes. I hope it stays uncharted and over looked. Until next time mystery island, keep those biting sand fleas, blood-thirsty mosquitos, unsanitary food, polluted waters, and rabid dogs, or at least that what we tell other tourists. 

From Riches to Rags

Suzie and I are now on our own. We went from staying in nice hotels with pools to hostels that look like you can rent a bed for an hour and have no separation between the shower and the toilet. It finally feels like we’re traveling: waiting at bus stops, eating street food, and watching our daily budget. Traveling in SEA is pretty cheap. We’re trying to spend $20 a day. Back in San Luis Obispo, I was spending about $23/day solely on rent and groceries. So this travel thing isn’t too too bad ; )

It’s crazy how fast time goes by. It feels like just yesterday we were all in Colorado planning our trip. Our family vacation came and went and it is a reminder to live in the moment. Yes, it is good to plan ahead and reflect on the past, but it’s important to take in everything right now. Make new memories, do what you enjoy, and, most importantly, always look on the bright side and make the best out of the situation.