MendoIndo

Koh Toa Dirt Biking & Last Night In Hat Rin

2010-02-16T00:31:00.000-08:00

Day 78

I had seen some sweet dirt bikes for rent the day before so I got up early and got one from a guy on the side of the street for 300 baht and took off not knowing where I was going, but on a mission to find some jungle trails to rip around. The bike was a 2009 KLX140 so it was quite small but actually had some good power and its size made it much more manageable on tight trails. The first dirt road I saw I zipped up with a huge smile on my face just happy to be riding a dirt bike again since it had been so long. The road gradually narrowed until I was off in the jungle on a single track trail just loving life.

Trails splintered off in every direction and I intended to hit every one of them. Came to the top of the mountain which overlooked the island and stopped to admire the view.

Some of the trails became quite technical and I got into some pretty hectic situations more then once. At one point the trail got so washed out and steep I knew if I went down there was no way I could go back. I stopped and contemplated the situation and walked down the section planning my line. Whats an adventure without a little unknown so I took off sliding down the slippery hill pretty out of control and barely avoided falling off the side into the washout.

Soon the trail mellowed out and I found a random hammock in some tree's so I stopped and chilled there for a good amount of time just resting.

Being almost in a euphoria from being able to ride in such a beautiful and differnt enviornment I dident even think about my gas situation until the bike started sputtering and losing power until it died in the middle of no where. Oh great the nearest gas was probably an hour hike so I got off and started walking until I came across a seemingly abondoned rock quarry with old heavy equipment in delapatated conditions. I found some old irrigation tubing on the ground along with a empty coke bottle and stuck the tube into a tractor hoping to be able to syphon enough gas to get me back to town. To my luck there was gas which inevitably got all in my mouth before I transfered it to the coke bottle. Gas here is red for some reason which is the same color as farm diesel back home so I was not 100% sure it was even petrol. I walked back to the bike and poured it into the tank and the bike fired right up, back in action!

Took another bulldozer "road" to the other side of the island and came to an amazing bay with little bungalows strewn about the beach. This place was seriously out of the way and would be a great place to stay and just get away from it all with your girlfriend or something.

Back into the mountains again taking every trail I saw, some also getting quite hard but having a ton of fun.

I somehow ended up back on the main paved road and took it into town and to the south of the island where I came across a big psy-trance rave party in the mountains. I stopped and walked in and was pretty taken back by the scene. It was all decorated in psycodelic colors and there was a DJ spinning extremely loud techno music with strange looking people drugged out of their minds dancing around some passed out face first in the dirt. It reminded me alot of Reggae On The River Festival back home in California but in the jungle. I was obviously the only person not on drugs there and seemed to stick out quite a bit getting weird looks from everyone as I walked around just laughing at the whole situation.

I stayed about an hour and then got back on the bike and down to a very small beach where I had a beer and took a short nap in the hammock.

I had been to every part of the island except one bay so I rallyed over there and came to a very fancy resort which I walked around for a bit. It was all built into the stone cliffs and looked like an amazing place to stay, to bad it was $400 a night!

Went down to another random beach and saw some locals playing soccor and playing the drums so I hung out with them for a bit.

As I was on my way back to my room I heard some very loud Thai music coming from a hut so I rode by and there was a family of local Thai's singing Kareoke on the porch of their house. As I rode by they started yelling and motioning for me to come over and sing. I turned around and was greeted with a beer and lots of smiles and hand shakes. No one really spoke any english but they were having a ball of a time so I sat down with them tried to communicate with semi sucess. They were all very friendly and introduced me to all their friends and family as they sang into the microphone hooked up to a ghetto stereo system and a black and white TV.

They kept giving me beer after beer and then it turned into Thai whiskey shots and before I knew it I was pretty drunk and freestyling into the mic over Thai music with everyone clapping and playing make shift instraments. Ive got it all on video but its pretty embarassing and will never see the light of day ;)
Dont know how long I was there but it must of been pretty late by the time I decided it was time for me to go to bed. I stood up and could barely even walk strait. There was no way I was going to ride my dirt bike home without disaster so I ended up spending the night on the porch of their hut which actually was not half bad haha. Quite the evening and well the whole day was amazing, one of the best so far.

Didn't really do much at all today because I was so worn out from the Full Moon Party. I got some food hung out on the beach and swam in the ocean.

The restaurant had the movie Iron Man on so I watched it lounging and relaxing. then showered. We all went out to Had Rin again for dinner and drinks. It was strange to see the beach without thousands of people on it but to my surprise there were still a lot of people out tonight. We had some rum buckets and danced for a while on the beach having a good time.

New Years Eve Full Moon Party!

2010-02-15T23:31:00.000-08:00

DAY 77
Chris got up first today while I laid in bed catching up on rest because I am probably going to be up all night tonight.We both went around the corner to use the internet to message people to meet up with for new years. We also sent emails wishing our family and friends a happy new year. Around 11 we went to get some food. Chris's bus leaves at 12 and I will hang around a bit longer and leave at 2:30.
Chris got packed and I walked with him to the tour office and we split up. Chris took my bag to Koh Tao with him and I had just my small bag with my camera money and extra shirt. I hung around the room watched tv and then checked out of the hotel at 2pm. On the bus I met some really cool people and we all hung out on the boat talking and trading travel stories.

When we got to Phangan we walked around the beach and had some food. The beach was filling up fast at dusk and I could already tell it was going to be crazy night.

We hung out on the beach sitting in a group drinking our first drinks of the night. The beach was covered with people and everyone was in high spirits and had huge smiles on their faces. I lost this crew after not to long and roamed the beach by myself dancing and meeting all sorts of crazy people, some new and some I had met along this trip in other countries.

I went to mushroom mountain for a while which was on the beach hillside and watched fireworks for a while. Close to midnight I went to the other end of the beach where there was a stage. It was overloaded with people and it colapsed in the middle. It was really funny as a Thai guy tried to tell everyone to get off the stage but everyone was to drunk and continued to dance on the broken stage.

I saw a Canadian couple I had met in Ton Sai and met a girl from Finland and we all hung out on a rooftop balcony watching all of the people on the beach. With the loud music and packed beach it was quite a sight to behold especially from above.

At around 3 am I met up with Beth one of the English girls we had met on Phuket and we partied together until 4 am.

      I had no place to stay yet and so I went with her to her bungalow 15 minutes away. The taxi truck was packed full of people and we had to hang off the back the whole 15 min ride and im surprised we made it back to the bungalow alive. I was really tired from all night dancing and we crashed out right away. We both crashed out totally exhausted from the crazy 2010 new years full moon party Koh Phangan.

    Since I had just gotten out of the hospital the day before I decided to go to Ko Tao Island to chill out while Zev went to Ko Phanang for the huge full moon new years party. We parted ways at about noon and I got in a mini bus to the boat. The driver kept stopping and turning around randomly and was late from the beginning so I barely made it on the boat, by barely I mean the boat was unhooked and leaving and I had to throw my bags and jump from the dock. About an hour later the boat stopped at Ko Phanang and most of the people got off leaving just a few of us to continue another hour or so to Ko Tao.
     Pull up to the dock and am greeted by crystal clear water and some very interesting rock formations along the beach.

I got a taxi to the center of town and then went on a search for accommodation. I had both my backpack and Zev's and it was just brutal to carry that much weight so I left them at a hotel reception desk and went on. Since it was new years eve everywhere was full, I must of went to 20+ places and none had rooms. I started to loose hope and thought id be sleeping on the beach when I came across a little booth where the lady said she had one room left for 600 baht, I took it without question.
I dropped off all our bags and went to the beach for sunset and got some food. I was pretty tired so I took a nap only to wake up at 11:30pm so I got up and went down to the New Years beach parties. Cruised around for a bit watching tons of fireworks and hanging out with some people until about 3am when I came back and went to bed.

Koh Samui Day 2

2010-02-15T22:52:00.000-08:00

DAY 76

   I was up at 6am for my final checks from the nurse and released with a clean bill of health. I went to the accounting area to pay the bill and was absolutely shocked at the bill. $1000 US Dollars for the night in the hospital!! Ive been to 4 hospitals on this trip and they have never been over $25 dollars so this was pretty steep. I have travel insurance but I sure hope they cover all this. I paid the bill in full and rode back towards our hotel.

      I got up at 11am and did a workout in the room with the iPod speakers bumping. I waited around for Chris to come back but there was no sign of him. It was 12 already and Chris was still not back so I took the computer next door to check my email. I was on the net for a while but had no message from him. Just as I left to go back to the room Chris appeared on his motor bike and I greeted him with a big hug. He told me about his whole hospital ordeal and that he was fine. It was only a bad case of dehydration and he was just not drinking enough water. They gave him a drip and all of his tests came back fine so he was good to go.
     He was still a bit tired and weak from dehydration so he climbed into bed and took a nap right away. Soon after that the German girls came by to say goodbye because they had gotten more expensive room up the street. I went on a walk to 711 to get some snacks for us because Chris needed to rest and brought them back to the room. Chris was fast asleep when I returned so I took off on a walk all the way down the beach and back.
     When he got up we went around to some travel agencies to get our boat tickets to the other islands for new years. I decided I was going to Koh Phanang for the full moon party while Chris still not in full health was going to Koh Tao for a more mellow new years. After we booked our separate boat tickets we came back to the room and put on another movie. I am sending my big bag with Chris to Koh Tao because I have no idea where I will be staying in Koh Phangan. I am only bringing my small bag with my camera and an extra shirt. I am super excited about tomorrow and am typing today's events now because I don't think I will sleep or have time to type in the next few days.

Koh Samui

2010-02-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

DAY 75

We got off the boat in the morning and got in Tuk Tuks to find ourselves accommodation. We were not sure where we were going but the lonely planet said that Lami beach south of Chawang beach was where we might find cheap accommodation. Some German girls from the boat came with us to look for a hotel. They were not used to the ghetto backpacker style that we were accustomed to and were a little taken back at the rooms that we found actually quite nice. The rooms for us were a huge step up from the Ton Sai monkey infested jungle bungalows. They had TVs a stereo a DVD player, hot water maker, two double beds, a fridge and were very spacious. We took showers to clean up after our all night journey and had a quick nap then check out the beach.

Chris had decided to go get checked out at the hospital today around noon, so I left him at the room and went for food with the girls.

Almost positive I had some bad sickness I rented a scooter and rode into the main town to find a hospital and see a real doctor to figure this out once and for all. I arrived at the Thai International Hospital and told the nurse my symptoms and they immediately gave me a make shift room and put me on a IV drip saying I was suffering from severe dehydration. They also took blood sampled to get tested in the lab. As I waited there for a real room to be ready three guys my age came in one with a badly broken leg from a scooter accident on another island. I talked with the injured guy who was very bloody and bruised up but still smiling. This made me not feel so bad.

My room was ready and they wheeled me in, I felt like a dying patient with all the doctors and nurses around me it was a weird feeling. The room was nice and I got the nurse to get me a stack of bootleg Family Guy DVD's to watch. With the IV re-hydrating me I was feeling better already.

After all the tests I was negative for all diseases and my organ functions were all fine so it was just a case of heat exhaustion which was a relief.

     After we had eaten we were walking back toward our hotel when the girls decided to stop at a shop to get themselves some towels. The lady working at the shop said 500 baht which is $15 per towel. I helped bargain down to 300 for each towel which for Thailand is still high. The German girls didn't really understand the transfer rate yet so I told them to ask 500 for both which is normal when bargaining. All of a sudden the lady became infuriated. She freaked out and told us to leave the store. We left but as we did she said "fuck you, no have happy new year, stupid," and whatever else in Thai that I couldn't understand. I was surprised at first because I was respectful the whole time. So I said I was sorry as we exited the store but she was still seriously pissed.
       As we walked away she swung one of the towels at me. I dodged her and we headed down the road but she followed us yelling. She took off her sandals and threw them at me just barely missing me. The second time she picked them up to throw them again I had had enough and turned back to her saying "stop" in a loud voice. She retreated when I said this but when I turned around and continued to walk away, she threw her sandal at me one last time. It flew by my head and the second hit me in the back. This really pissed me off. I turned around picked up her sandal as she ran away to hide in the store and I hucked it onto a nearby roof. This shut her up and took away her ammunition. As I walked off I was feeling totally shocked at how ridiculous the whole situation was. The German girls were very confused as well and asked what I had done to the lady for her to act that way. I told them I had done normal bargaining and had no idea why she acted so crazy.
     After that episode we stopped by a 711 and got snacks. I got a few Chang beers to put in the fridge in our room for later. When I came back to the room and I laid down for a bit listening to my music. Chris had left at 12:00 for the hospital today and I was beginning to worry about him once it got dark and he was still not back. By 9 I was fully stressing that something could be terribly wrong and checked the net because I knew if he needed to contact me it would be by email or facebook. I had a new messages from him in my inbox and it said he was staying over night at the hospital and waiting for the test results.
       At this point I was really worried about him but knew that if he wanted me to come to the hospital to see him he would have said so. It was a bit stressful to know he was in the hospital overnight all alone. So the girls and I went out to check out the town and keep my mind off of it. We had a few drinks and just cruised around checking out the area. We didn't stay out long because I was not feeling the vibe and still worrying about Chris. We returned to the room and hung out on our deck. We finished the night there listening to music and eating top ramen noodels.

Tonsai to Ko Samui

2010-02-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

DAY 74

I got up at 8am and returned to our bungalow to sleep some more after staying up all night. I slept until ten and then packed up and checked out of the hotel awaiting our 2 oclock boat in the Viking bar. We take a boat to Aou Nang and then a 3hr bus across the mainland to a ferry which takes us overnight, to Ko Samui. I had my coffee with Nam at the Viking bar and sat in a hammock looking out over the glimmering sea.

Ali, Gwen, and Christine came by and joined Chris and I as we waited for our boat. Ali was leaving a bit earlier than us so we said goodbye to her and she took off. Chris and I hung out in hammocks in the shade and talked about things we wanted to do in Ko Samui. Cookie showed up and sat with me at the Viking bar while Chris went to get a massage. I zoned out for a while lost in my iPod writing about the past few days and listening to my music. This beach is really peaceful and I feel completely relaxed. Our bus in Aou Nang leaves at 3pm but Chris lost track of time and didn't come back to the bar until around 2:15. When we went to where the boats left we had to wait for more people to fill our boat before we could leave. Already being a bit behind schedule we were a little anxious to get going. We sat on the beach in the shade of the huge rock cliffs and waited for enough people to fill the boat.

     We made our way quickly to the bus stop, but ended up waiting for a while before the bus came. Things here tend to be a bit slower, they say go slow on Thai time, so we had enough time to get some food while we waited. At 3:15 a funny looking bus came to pick us up. There were quite a lot of tourist on the bus already but they packed more of us in and off we went. We drove for like 45 minutes on this funny colored, very funky looking bus with rusty paint and long termite ridden boards as seats.
    We were dropped off at a small restaurant to wait for the main bus to the east side of the mainland. As we sat on the roadside I exclaimed to Chris how fast the time flys and how far we have come. We have seen so many great places, people and things in just 3 months. As a traveler, time can feel both extraordinarily long and also so very short when you visit so many different places like we have. Sometimes when you look back and remember the great times you start to feel sad they are over but then you realize there are many more great experiences awaiting you around every corner.
      As we sat waiting, Katie Bullock a girl from England we had met back in Thailand in the city of Pai as well as other places throughout our crazy adventures, showed up. A guy from Wisconsin named Joe plopped down on the roadside next to us and we all had a great conversation. He made lots of jokes and was very entertaining. He may have been a bit drunk but he was hilarious and we all laughed ourselves close to tears as we waited for the bus.

A group of drunk French guys sat behind us on the bus and the laughing continued on as they sang french songs while still drinking. The ride was 3 hours long and very uncomfortably bumpy. The French guys all sound like borat to me and I could not hold back my laughter.

Out of the blue a girl came running to the back of the bus as steam filled the front compartment. The radiator had overheated and steam had shot from the air con vents filling the front part of the bus. People all filed off the bus and waited on the road for the driver to fix the bus. They needed our drinking water bottles which they actually poured in through the dashboard of the bus to refill the radiator. We all gave them up quickly to help fix the bus.

It was a quick fix and within 5 minutes we all got back on the bus and off we went. We arrived at a small restaurant around 8:00pm to wait for a transfer truck to the dock where the night boat would take us to Koh Samui. The restaurant was filled with bags and tourists loud with conversations. Finally our rides came to take us in loads of 8 to the harbor. We boarded the sleeper boat which was not at all what I had expected. It was very cramped and stuffed with cargo and people laying on mats side by side all over the boat. Because we had been some of the last to get on there were no beds left for us. Luckily we found two mats off to the side and put them over the engine room among the luggage. It was very loud right under us but we had plenty of space around us amiss the luggage and cargo and didn't have to sleep next to some stranger.

I was tired and passed out quickly due to sleeping pills. I did not wake up until when we had already docked. I got up sleepy eyed and staggered off the boat.

Tonsai Beach Day 6

2010-01-12T03:46:00.000-08:00

DAY 73

It was 11:45 by the time I was up and out so we had a very late breakfast that consisted of a Pad Thai stuffed omelet and a mango shake. Afterwards Cookie, Gwen and I rented kayaks and paddled around the coast to the other beaches and little islands through shellfish encrusted caves along the cliffs. Bright orange, red, grey and white colors are awesome with the crystal blue and green water resting below these huge rocks that stick out of the water like massive pillars. There immense weight seems to be balanced on the ocean floor like a overweight ballerina on her toes. I sit and gaze at the rocks and water feeling so peaceful and content in life.

We were out for a few hours and found two beaches sun bathing for a while before coming back to Tonsai. Met up with Chris at the movie lounge to watch Year One with Jack Black. The movie was really funny and cookies high giggeling made me laugh even harder. After the movie Chris took off for bed and cookie and I headed to go hang with our friends. Before bed we got banana pancakes from Mr. Pankake which hit the spot.

Tonsai Beach Day 5

2010-01-12T03:32:00.000-08:00

DAY 72

Ali and I checked out the open water solo climbing which is where you climb with no ropes or safety and then jump off when you get as high as you feel like jumping from. I have a cut on my big toe and they have no shoes in my size so I decided to skip it as well as I'm lazy today and feel like taking it easy. I dropped the key at reception and went to the street vendors for food. Papaya Salad and mango sticky rice mmmmmm sooo good. Only 80 baht and hit the spot. Back to our bungalow to find Chris and took a needed nap. We all got up and went to get food where Chris and I shared a mixed basket at our favorite restaurant and had ginger tea which has become a favorite of mine lately. Another good night with good friends on the beach

Tonsai Beach Day 4

2010-01-12T03:17:00.000-08:00

DAY 71

Walked to the end of the beach and watched to rock climbers scale the inverted rock faces once more. Took a swim and laid out on the beach to relax. We then had some food and came back to get Chris to go to watch some movies at a lounge. We sat down, had ginger tea and fried bananas while watching a ridiculous Cinderella teenybopper movie. Chris stayed to hang out since he couldn't do much so we cruised around a bit
and then returned to the Viking Bar to play some pool. I Played ping pong for a while and happened to sit down by Cookie our buddy from Phi phi. It was good times she bought me a beer and
we walked the beach talking and taking in the moment.

Tonsai Beach Day 3

2010-01-12T03:09:00.000-08:00

DAY 70

We were going to move to Railay Beach today but decided against it after meeting some great people the night before. We checked back into the hotel and got a two bed bungalow for the next few nights.

We went to get food but Chris didn't feel so good again and stayed to check into the room. After we ate I met up with Ali's crew who were going hike to Railay Beach so I grabbed my camera and sandals and off I went with them. We climbed over the rocks to the other beach and it was quite a journey. The beach was very cool with a big rock jump into the ocean and spectacular formations all over.

As we went to leave a family of monkeys stormed the beach. A guy there knew the monkeys and was feeding them as they climbed all over him. Ali got the idea from him and pretty soon they were climbing all over her snatching bananas and jumping back to the rocks and vines.

We got sucked in and stayed with the monkeys feeding them and taking pictures. The rest of the group had gone so the two of us headed back through town. We hiked back around to Ton Sai the same way we came in the first day which was good exersise . I chilled for a bit and then came back to the room and check on Chris. He was still not feeling good almost Mui Ne status which was bad..

Today I was starting to feel exactly like I did when I was sick in Vietnam. I felt like I was drained of all energy, hot and feeling like I was going to pass out when I stood up. We were in the sun all day yesterday and I was not drinking enough water so im pretty sure it was heat exhaustion again. I really need to be more careful about staying hydrated, especially on hot days.

I told Ali of Chris' condition and she happened to have antibiotics and we brought them to him hoping it would cure his sickness. Later that night there was not much going on around the beach so a group of us went uptown to the street looking for good music and something to do.We all went to get Mr. Pancakes Banana Nutella which is outstanding. Belly's full everyone slowly made their way either back to the beach or off to bed.

Tonsai Beach Day 2

2010-01-12T02:48:00.000-08:00

DAY 69

In the morning we hung out on the bamboo decks along the ocean and watched the climbers on the rock faces do vertical and upside down maneuvers. I got out my Nikon with 18x zoom and got some sweet pics of climbers 200-300 feet up.

Chillin in a hammock writing in my itouch as long tail boats buzz around the harbor. The views out here are spectacular, sail boats, speed boats, and big passenger boats all stop out in the bay and shuttle passengers by long tail boats to the beaches. It's a backpackers world out here but it is high season so its a bit more expensive then I would like to pay but its all worth it.

In the front of a climbing shop was a small monkey on a leash. I could see his wild side and didn't get to close. As we were walking away a family of 13 monkeys came climbing and jumping tree to tree right above our heads. We just watched wide eyed as they ran around the trees and observed their family status and interactions.

As we were walking back, I met a girl on the beach from Cali who knew Chris from back in Santa Barbara so I took her to our bungalow to wake Chris up. I knew the moment we talked she was from Nor Cal.

Ali is probably the last person I expected to see out on a random beach in Thailand. We were friends back during college in Santa Barbara but had lost contact for the past 2 years. Really goes to show how small the world is.

We met the Iraq boys drinking mango shakes and had some food with them. It was another irie night on Tonsai Beach.

The vibes here are so relaxed and slow paced, I am happy to be staying for Christmas

Ko Lanta To Tonsai Beach

2010-01-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

DAY 68

     We knew we were leaving today but did not know where we wanted to go. After some research we decided we should head to Krabi and figure it out from there.We read the book and talked to a guy having breakfast next to us and we realized it wasn't the place to see. The guy recommended we go to Ao Nang Beach so we booked our ticket quickly as it was almost 12:00. The boat left at 1:30 and the bus ride to the harbor took 30 min so we were picked up right away.

We got to the pier and I knew the Swedish girls were still there because their boat was at the same time as ours. I spotted Ellen and Miriam having fruit shakes and sat with them until their boat came. Got a beer chilled with the boys by the pier and watched the people pile on and off the boats. The locals with their fliers and signs go to work on all of the tourists as they file off of the incoming boats. They grab bags and holler at everyone like a game to see who can get the most passengers. Its like a competition and they boast to eachother as people slowly choose options and climb into the truck style tuk tuks. They smile and yell in Thai to other awaiting workers and they pull away. Finally they started boarding our boat and as I was confirming our ticket I saw a sticker on another traveler saying Railay. I found out that this boat stops in Railay on its way to Aou Nang and we quickly decided we were now going to Railay.

     The top of the boat had an AC compartment with nice seats and we all piled in and plugged in our ipods and snoozed off as the boat left harbor. I don't remember falling sleep but I woke up as we were arriving with the guys all laughing about by my posture and open mouth sleeping against the Thai sized seat. A long tail boat picked us up from the big boat and dropped us on Railay Beach.

We walked from the boat up the beach to check about accommodation. The first hotel was 7000 baht which is around $200. We had heard you could find cheaper rooms in Ton Sai the next beach over. We were told it was a short hike on a dirt path which turned out to be more then we expected. We had to hike through the jungle around the back of one of these massive rock cliffs jetting hundreds of feet in the sky. The ground was loose with a steep incline and with our big bags we were all sweating profusely when we got to the top of the hill. It was not as easy as we were told and took 35-40min to get over to Ton Sai beach. On the way down the hill toward the beach we saw tons of bungalows and hiker ropes hanging on porches so we knew this was a climbers island.

We looked around the beach for accommodation and after I had checked out all the places and prices we settled on a true bungalow hut at 500 baht a night. Its really jungle style made of all bamboo with mosquito nets, no toilet seat and electricity which is only on from 4:30 pm and turns off by 8am leaving you to roast if you sleep past 10.

Wael and Chris were tired from the jungle hike while Mofid and I were hungry so the two of us went to get food. We sat down and had fried chicken, sticky rice with a papaya salad that was spicy and delicious. Just as we sat down to eat enormous Mosquito's attacked us. They were nasty and bloody when you smacked them. They swarmed all in your face and as we panicked the locals busted into laughter. The locals lit a egg carton and let it smolder under the table to help but they were relentless and we could barely eat between smacking bugs. We ate and paid quickly and headed out of the jungle to the beach away from the mosquitos.. As we walked toward our bungalow we met up with Chris and Wael and all went together to the Viking Bar. We sat in lawn chairs along the beach out front for a while listening to Katcha Fire and other reggae.

Around 10pm we went to a Restaurant that had over 300 items on its menu. The English is never correct on menus in this country and it was pretty funny ordering. Mofid always tries to make his portion bigger or haggle the price. Chris and Mofid were tired and went to bed but Wael and I stayed out.

We met some girls and as they sat and talked with us I could not stop laughing when I looked at Waels face. I couldn't handle listening to these very happy and stoned yet dull girls talking about shopping and how wonderful life was any longer so Wael and I left them to chill on the beach. We sat and chilled with some very cool Thai guys who worked at the bar and played pool. It was getting late but Wael was hungry again so he asked bar tender if he had food. He replied that he had his own food that he would share so him and Wael went back behind the bar to eat in the owners back hut. I waited for a bit and was getting tired so I looked back to tell him I was leaving and saw that he had a plate of rice with full fish heads on top looking very unappetizing. I was very glad I turned down that meal.

It was very dark and the front path of the hotel is not lit up very well so I totally stacked cutting my right big toe on a protruding rock. I came in and woke up Chris by turning on the light. It was a minor cut but I had intended on rock climbing here and is a bummer to have cut my toe the first night. We had a double bed so I had to climb over Chris and use an airline blanket I had with me for warmth which only covered up to my belly button. They only gave you one blanket for the room and Chris was wrapped up in it like a Burrito

Throughout the night our bungalow was bombarded with monkeys jumping off trees and landing on the tin roof. It was not the quiet spot we had imagined. The monkeys run it out here and we are on their turf.

Ko Lanta Snorkel Trip

2010-01-03T04:24:00.000-08:00

Day 67

We were up at 7:45 and hit the restaurant for a quick bite before we left. We were a little late because the food took a while and so we hustled to the shuttle and speed away. Got to the dock and got on a speed boat. There were 4 other passengers, 4 crew members plus the six in our crew making 14 people. We drove out through beautiful uninhabited islands covered in lush greenery. The water was sparkling blue even with partially cloudy sky's.

We stopped along the canal where some wild monkeys were hanging out and fed them banana's. It was interesting to watch them take the bananas and wash them off in the water before they at them.

We went out to a small island, dropped anchor and all went snorkeling for about an hour. The greens, browns and whites of the coral with teams of fish swimming all around was a sight to behold. Chris had his underwater camera and we had fun taking pictures underwater.

Afterwards hopped back on the boat and went to see the emerald cave. It was completely dark inside the cave with only our guides tiny and dull flashlight to lead the way. We all put life jackets on and swam through the cave for about 300 feet into a gorgeous blue lagoon. The cliffs were 200 feet high all around with a small sandy beach hiding below. We read how this cave was used in the past by pirates to hide their gold and treasure. If I was a pirate this would be a ideal place to hide my booty.

Got back on the boat and headed to another island and had lunch. Laid out on the beach after lunch with our Sweedish crew and Marium and I walked to beach picking sea shells.

When we got to the island I took off on my own on a random trail into the jungle to see what I could find. I had my ipod speakers in my back pack and listened to some mellow Bob Marley jams and as I trekked through the jungle. I was feeling really good about life and everything around me. I had no shoes on, and the trail turned into volcanic rock which slowed my pace until I came to a pristine bay with soft sand. I hiked down onto the beach and took a swim by myself enjoying the scenery.

Back on the boat for a bit to another snorkel spot that was the best of the day. There were hundreds of fish all around us and the boat captain started throwing rice in the water right around us and the fish went nuts.We were surrounded and astounded by ammount of fish around us, you could barely see because there were so many.

When we got back to the dock a truck picked us up and took us to the hotel where we all swam in the pool messing around and talking about our plans for the night. We all crashed out for a couple hours and got up for dinner around 9. It was a nightmare trying to order our food because the staff spoke very little english and was clueless even about their own menu. Mafid and his brother wanted to stay around the hotel but Mariam wanted to go out into town so Ellen, Chris and I joined her and we got a cab. We did not where we going but on our first stop we found a local Thai concert along the beach.

Walked down the beach to a little bar where we got buckets. The bar was very slow but enjoyed our conversation with a local guy who owned the bar.

Ko Lanta Island Day 2

2010-01-03T02:34:00.000-08:00

Day 66

Today we decided to rent motor bikes and ride around the island to see what we can find. Ali and Weal got their own scooter and I drove another with Zev on the back as he did not feel confident enough to ride his own. There was a basket in the front of my bike so I taped my ipod into my speaker dock and then bungied down the speakers in he basket so we were bumping tunes all day.

Took off going south with no real destination and got to see a lot of the beautiful country side of the island. There is a big Muslim population on the other side of the island and since I was using Ali's ipod he had muslim music on it so we rolled through town playing traditional Arabic music, it was pretty comical and we got a lot of smiles from the people.

We stopped a a amazing overlook of the island and had some fresh mango shakes and talked with the owner who told us more about the island.

We had reached the bottom of the island and there was no road connecting to the other side so we went back up and all the way around the long way. Stopped at Long Beach and had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset as well as checked out some Mui Thia Boxing Training.

Headed back to the hotel and did some late night pool swimming with the crew and booked our snorkel trip for the next day.

Phi Phi to Ko Lanta

2010-01-03T02:15:00.000-08:00

DAY 65
We checked out today and went to get shakes. Afterwards were waiting for Iraq boys to show so we got food at Garlic and waited around. After we still hadn't seen the guys so we walked to our shake lady and got our boat tickets from her. We then sat at the cafe and messed around on the net until the Iraq boys came along. We all got our stuff snapped some more pics and headed to the dock.

The ride was cool and as we took off, our side of the boat began to get splashed massivly by the waves and I got totally soaked. I took a little nap and before I knew it we were arriving in Koh Lanta.

We talked to a guy on the boat and he promised us a room for 1000 baht and 4 beds but when we arrived only 2 beds, a double and a single so we had to tell them we needed another bed. We were right in front of the pool and by the beach so we were happy. I busted out the iPod speakers got a beer and relaxed.

     We got some food at the restaurant and chilled out.. We walked what was to told to us to be 1 kilometer but its was more like a mile to the 711 for supplies and got a motor bike tuk tuk back.

     With all of us it was way to heavy for this little motorbike with a side cart attached and the bike was doing wheelies and spinning in circles when he tried to go so we had to get out and push, it was pretty funny.

      We sat in front of the room drank for a while and two Swedish girls Marium and Ellen from the ride to the hotel joined us as well as two English birds. We all jumped in the pool and played around being pretty loud. Seems to be a pretty sweet place.

Koh Phi Phi Day 6

2010-01-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

DAY 64

Up early and went for a pineapple shake! The lady knows me now and just says pineapple right! Coffee shop until around 2 then we put the computer and iPod in the room and walked to long beach. Before we left we got another shake and said goodbye to English girls as they left to another Island. The walk to long beach was over the rocks on a small dirt path past bungalows and resorts and two small beaches that were pretty much empty. Long beach was nice and you could swim unlike our beach. We relaxed and swam for a bit and got a boat back.

We were really tired and took naps from 5 to 9:30. I got up and got Chris moving went to Garlic restaurant for dinner and before our food came we ran to ibeza bar for our first free bucket. We ate then returned to ibeza where Iggy and James were as well as English boys. We all hung out met up with Iraq boys and did a bucket shuffle again. Met some cool swedes and hit it off then danced with iggy after she took a big fall off the stage but got right back up and kept dancing.

Koh Phi Phi Day 5

2010-01-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

DAY 63

Up around 10am and went for 30 baht pineapple fruit shakes which are awesome. We sat at the coffee shop again and blogged for a while. Ali met up with me and we went to the banana restaurant for Mexican food which was pretty good. I headed back to the room and organized my things for a bit waiting for Chris to come back but he didn't so I went down to the beach for a swim. It got a little cloudy and I headed back to the room just as Chris came to the beach so we went together. Chris again took a nice long nap as I typed away on his computer logging in all of our days so we can post them in our blog easier. I got all of our days up to date on the computer which took me an hour or two but was very gratifying and felt good to get out and on the computer.

Koh Phi Phi Day 4

2010-01-02T22:15:00.000-08:00

DAY 62

      When I got up Kirk, Chris and Debbie and I all went for fruit shakes and found a Falaffel spot which was really good and a change from all the Thai food we have been eating. Kirk and Debbie were leaving today at 2pm to go back to New Zealand so we went back to the beach and hung out with them until they had to go.

     After Deb and Kirk left it kind of felt like the end of a era as we had been traveling with them and about 5 other Kiwi's since we first entered Lao 6 weeks ago and had so many great times together. We had become like a family but all good things must come to a end and now we just have to find even cooler people to travel with (just kidding guys)

      When they left Chris and I napped in the room trying to avoid the heat of the day but still roasting in our little bungalow heat box. Again Chris had no problem sleeping and I tossed and turned so I decided to go get more food. After eating that amazing pad thai again I was drowsy and finally had a good nap with the help of my food coma. It was night time when i got up and Chris needed to check his bank balance so we took his computer to a free wifi cafe and did a bit of blogging. Happy hour at the reggae bar so I got a bucket and we met up with the English girls again and hung out until 10 when Chris and I headed to Ibeza for the usual bucket schuffel again and didn't pay for anything the whole night. I met some guys who I had met my night out solo in Patong from Iraq and we all hit it off and had a lot of fun showing them how to properly do a night in Phi Phi. We also met the French guys who we met in Veng Vieng and all chilled out watching the fire shows and busting out the glow in the dark face paint and painting ourselves. It was good times and we all had a great night.

     The Iraq guys Ali and Wael were awesome and we got along really well and had a ton of fun together this night. They were on a short vacation because Wael was on leave from the army and really had no plans so I invited them to come with with us in the next couple days to Ko Lanta Island and travel with us the rest of their trip.

Koh Phi Phi Day 3

2010-01-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

DAY 61

Hit the beach and my jaw just dropped as I sat there and looked at all of the gorgeous women sunbathing. Its crazy how many there are here, you cant even explain it. Chris and Kirk finally got up and we all went into town for food. Chris and I got massive fired chicken legs and were so full after that we came back to the room to take a nap. Now Chris is great at napping and has no trouble at all sleeping during the day but its just not easy for me so I went to the beach and hung out with the English girls who we met in Patong. We started to talk about food and how everyone on facebook has been asking me if im eating enough because I look skinny in my pictures and its funny because I eat like 5 meals a day and am always hungry but still have lost like ten pounds.

I am also eating like crazy at every chance I get and have lost weight as well, Its got to be the heat and always sweating. That or the food here just doesn't have much nutritional value. It sure is good though.

So with this food talk I became hungry again and went to get something to eat. I came back to the room and as everyone was getting up and ready for the night I got in a quick 20 min nap and then got up to go for dinner with the crew. Wes was here and we met with him and some of his friends for dinner. After dinner we went to the Reggae bar where they have a boxing ring and Mui Thai boxers box as well as many tourists who win a free bucket for getting in the ring and fighting their friends.

We didn't stick around long and went to Ibeza bar for free buckets at 10 to ten. It was another crazy night with double dutch fire jump rope, fire limbo and glow in the dark body paint. Beth, one of the English girls was crazy and painted me all over my face and chest and then we ran around dancing and being ridiculous but it was great fun.

Koh Phi Phi Day 2

2010-01-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

DAY 60

Couldn't sleep in because the little bungalows are like heat boxes as soon as the sun is out so I got up, got water and went to the beach with Debbie. Eva had taken off at 8 am and she said goodbye to us all before she took off so now it was down to Kirk, Debbie Chris and I from our original crew of 8 over the past 6 weeks. The Cali couple Chris and Taryn showed up around 10am and got a bungalow next to ours. Around 1pm we took a boat to Maya beach. We snorkeled a few places saw some caves and then came back to our bungalow cleaned up and went out for Pad Thai again.

The scenery around here is nothing short of amazing, probably one of the most beautiful places ive ever seen. Huge vertical stone cliffs covered in lush green foliage sprout from the crystal clear blue water and little beaches are spotted along the islands. We stopped at "The Beach" beach from the movie and went snorkeling seeing some very cool sea life including snakes, giant clams, and brightly colored parrot fish which would swim withing touching distance to you.

Chris and I were pretty tired and went to sleep right after sunset until 10 at night and woke up and went out. We got our routine down and hit up all the bars for free buckets and had another crazy night. We were all dancing all over the place and enjoying ourselves highly. At this point and some guy was like "dude I like your moves what do you call that the stagger." This if anything was a sign that I needed to get to bed and Debbie was in the same state so we went back to the bungalow sat out side before we went for food and devoured it. After the food I went straight to bed and around 5:30 am Chris came back to the room as well..

Koh Phi Phi Island

2010-01-02T01:53:00.000-08:00

DAY 59

Up at 7am slowly and still hurting from the night before. We got our bus to the boat and headed to Phi Phi.

They had free coffee on the boat so I drank like 5 cups to wake up and talked with some Thai girl who worked on the boat for a bit. I went to the top deck and watched the horizon as islands passed the boat and the clear blue water splashed in our wake. I got tired and slept for an hour even after drinking the coffee and awoke just as we pulled up to the pier in Phi Phi. Our friend Debbie who had been on Phi Phi for a few days now had booked a room for us at the Twin Palm Bungalows on the beach so we got directions and walked over. Eva had stayed an extra night and we woke her up when we arrived not knowing she would be there and chatted a bit.
Debbie, Kirk and I went to the water and just sat on the beach all day enjoying the sun and each others company as we had not seen them for almost 2 weeks. There are so many beautiful women and well beautiful people on this island its just amazing. Its like there is a requirement to be very attractive to step foot on the island, HUGE change from Phuket. There are a majority of Swedish and Australian people here and you can hear it in the accents and conversations all around.

We went to dinner at a Pad Thai spot that was excellent and had pieces of paper all over the walls of this little restaurant from travelers saying this was the best pad thai in the world. We got back to our bungalow made some buckets and hung out before we went out. Debbie had it down to where you got fliers and she knew exactly where they gave free buckets at certain times of the night and pretty much went from bar to bar every hour getting free buckets and not paying for a thing. At all of the beach bars they have fire juggling and fire jump rope as well as other games that were pretty fun. It was a pretty insane night and we danced like mad. This party scene is awesome and goes all night long. I was totally exhausted from the travels as well as not sleeping much the night before but it was Eva's last night so after dancing we just sat on the beach and watched shooting stars go by having a great conversation until it was almost light out, I really had a great connection with Eva and am very happy to have made a life long friend.

Phuket Day 4

2010-01-02T01:01:00.000-08:00

DAY 58

We thought we might go to Karon beach today because Patong was so nutty so we packed our bags left them at reception and headed to the beach to meet Chris and Taryn the Cali couple we had met on the plane. We decide to just stay put in Patong that night and rent motor bikes to go around the island with them to see the sights so we checked back into the hotel, got a bike and took off.
We stopped in Phuket Town probably the only non touristy place on the island and hit up the night market which had a huge assortment of local food which we all sampled and then headed back towards the city where we found a great lookout point to watch the sunset. There was a small rocky path that went down the cliff onto a Peninsula so we decided to hike down it and went out onto the rocks to take a swim and cool off.

As the sun started setting hundred upon hundreds of Asians showed up transforming the tranquill scene into a crowded overlook but it was still a very nice sunseet with all of us sitting on the sea wall taking in the scene.

We headed back into Patong and went our for dinner chillin out with our new friends. They headed back to Kamala and we came back to the room cleaned up and I decided I wanted to go out but Chris stayed in. It was quite a night, I met some really cool guys from Iraq who live in Sweden and then some guys from Hanoi backpackers and we went to a little bar where the bartender was throwing bottles doing flare bar tending and lighting the bar on fire. It was quite a show and quite a night getting in around 4:30am only to have to get up at 7am for our boat trip to Phi Phi island.

Phuket Day 3

2010-01-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

Day 57

Not much to report today. We slept most of the day and in the afternoon decided we needed to get out of the room so we went to subway for our first meal of the day. We then got snacks and returned to the room to work on our blog. It was nice to just do nothing with no schedule. That night we found a little night market and had dinner there which was really good and cheap. Chris was tired so we came back to the room and I had plans to go out but ended up uploading pics on the computer and messing around on facebook until I fell asleep.

Phuket Day 2

2010-01-02T00:14:00.000-08:00

DAY 56

    Breakfast on the beach again and then we checked out and got a cab to Patong Beach which was expensive because I guess the taxi and tuk tuk are run by a mafia and they monopolize it and can charge a ton. We got to Patong Beach and got a room at the Bomarang Inn and then Chris went to the dentist at 1 pm for his filling.

    I was a little nervous about getting dental work done in another country but this place seemed really legit and the dentist spoke good English putting my mind at ease. About a quarter of my bottom molar had come out due to the bad fillings I had got done back in Mendo and was down the nerve making it hard to eat or drink anything. The dentist asked me if I wanted any Novocaine and from my prior experiences at the dentist I said yeah for sure. I then started thinking about having a numb mouth all night and asked how much it would hurt without. His reply was "not to much if you are a man" haha. Screw it no Novocaine I said, and he went to work grinding and drilling which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. About 20 minutes later he was done and it seemed to be a good job. I paid 1500 Baht which is $45, a steal compared to the $300 I paid back in the states. My dentist is gonna get a piece of my mind when I get home as this is the second filling that has come out.

     While Chris was at the dentist I chilled on the beach. We returned to the room doing some blog work and relaxing in the AC. We napped a bit untill around 8 oclock and then went out to dinner. The city was crazy at night and bars upon bars full of hookers and everything aimed at sex tourism.

The streets were packed with tourists and mostly older men picking up on these women or just watching them dance on poles which were in most bars. There was a DJ on the beach and we hit that up for a while and it was more our style with tons of young people and great music.

We danced around and met some cool dudes from Ireland and talked a bit and then decided we were overwhelmed with the scene and returned to our hotel. As we were getting our key from reception two English girls came in and we struck up conversation and they came up to our room to party a little more. We put on the ipod speakers and all putting on my hats for a laugh and eventually went to bed.

Phuket, Thailand

2010-01-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

DAY 55

Stayed in Kamala beach with a nice room with free breakfast on the beach so we wandered down had some food and let our eyes adjust to the bright sun and new beach. We rented a moped and cruised the island heading south along the coast checking out the beaches. Patong Beach which is the main city on the island is a mad house and full of old couples and lots of really unattractive fat people, most in speedo's or topless. We were kind of taken back by the whole scene and after walking the beach once we were ready to go to another spot. We hopped back on the bike and took off in search of a less touristy beach..

Since this was a well established town I thought it would be a good idea to go find a dentist to get my broken tooth fixed so we stopped at two places and I decided to make a appointment for the next day at the second one as it looked much cleaner and was more expensive, hopefully meaning better work.

We rode to some pretty nice beaches and up some really steep hills until the bike started to sputter out. With all the weight and hills the bike was sucking down gas and had finnally ran out. So there we were on the side of the road like uhh what do we do now.

Luckily a Canadian guy rode by who stopped and ended up riding to the next gas station and bringing us a bottle. Good stuff, now we are back on the road.

After that whole ordeal we checked out Karon and Kata beaches and then cruised past to a view point that had a great view of most of the coast line we had just drove.

It was getting close to sunset and we didn't want to be riding at night so we headed back to Kamala beach. We relaxed a bit in the room and then went out in search of a good seafood dinner. We found a local spot because most other restaurants were very expensive. We shared seafood fried rice and pad thai with prawns.

Our friends from California we met on the plane the day before told us about a bar called the Black Cat so we wandered around until we found it where we met up with them. They had some friends who were living there teaching English at a school there and knew the town in and out so we hopped on the back of their bikes and they showed us around. It was quite a night because they were like regulars at most of the bars and most places had "Butterflies" as they like to call them but they are really hookers and they were hysterical. They taught the women bad words and had unrepeatable nicknames for the guys which was a good laugh. We zipped around not staying at anywhere to long and talking about the island hearing their stories from the past 3 months living there. We ended the night around 2am, got some snacks and went off to bed.

Phuc Quoc to Saigon War Exibit

2009-12-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

DAY 54

We had breakfast on the beach this morning and then around 10.30am we got a cab to the airport. Our flight was at noon and took around an hour to get to Saigon.

Went straight to the war museum and checked it out. The planes, helicopters and tanks that all sat outside were interesting to see but upon entering the building the mood took a sudden shift.

     The search and destroy tactics used by the US army was seriously brutal and pictures showed horrible and inhumane acts as well as deep pain inflicted upon the people of Vietnam. Posters used to get the soldiers to be ruthless said things like bomb the cong and aggressiveness and fire power will win the war. There were tons of quotes from Vietnamese people that said things like US tactics showed complete disregard for proper ways of war and no mercy shown even for civilians. The whole place was a lot to take in and as I continued through the museum I felt sick to my stomach.
    Pictures of torture and brutal bloodied bodies with American soldiers smiling over corpses was just disturbing. It was just like a horror story and I could not help but feel ashamed being American and from a place that did such unthinkable destruction to other human beings. Learning about the toxic chemicals like agent orange and what it did to the land as well as the people was just heart wrenching. The Vietnamese people were poisoned like pests would be with pesticides and left to wither and suffer as the toxic chemicals slowly dissipated but not before taking thousands of lives. It was hard to imagine that the beautiful landscape we had been traveling in the past month was desecrated and just plain demolished to a point to where no vegetation could grow. Huge craters from bombs dropped by the US were used to collect water and roadsides were lined with unexploded bombs like pillars with no where to go. Land mines killed farmers long after the war as they tried to cultivate food in their fields. We walked in silence and awe as we passed the terrorizing pictures and stories on the walls.
     I tried to take my time and read all the picture quotes in the beginning to learn, but the seriousness and pure terror of the content made me not want to know much more. By the last room I had stopped reading the quotes and moved quickly around glancing at the pictures but totally overwhelmed, disgusted, sad, ashamed and sorry for all of the hardship endured and still affecting the people of this country. To this day there are still agent orange caused birth defects and babies born disabled and disfigured. There are living mine victims with no arms and legs with scared faces who sit outside of the museum trying to sell you things as you leave. It was a very intense experience and so real now that I had seen it in front of me. Near the end of the tour as I tried to take this all in I couldn't really focus on the images in front of me even though I was trying in hopes of learning and changing my perspective but I was truly overtaken by emotion and was way done by the end. Chris and I both looked at each other not really saying anything, dazed and both just headed straight for the exit.

    This was quite a sobering experience seeing this exhibit. The images where as brutal as you can get with half torn bodies being carried by American Soldiers with a smile like it was a hunting sport. Before we went inside I had met a man he who had both of his arms blown off by a unexploded landmine while playing as a child. The long term effects of this war and its tactics are staggering. What really got me the most was seeing the images of innocent children affected by agent orange. Their faces literally melting off their head with crippled limbs, born blind and unable to even eat on their own for the rest of their lives.They even had real deformed fetus' in Jars. I had to choke back tears and after a while I just had to stop looking at them. We also visited the torture prisons and that is just a whole different thing I don't want to get into. People are fucked.

We got motor bikes back to the tour office where we had left our big bags zipping through insane traffic.

When we got there Prasanna who we met in Lao was on a computer and we greeted him happy to see a friendly face. We all did some computer stuff for a bit and then went to get some food. We got Pho soup for a dollar which was really good and then just hung out talking about our adventures and difference in our trips. Around 7pm we said goodbye and got a cab to the airport for our flight to Phuket. In the airport we spent the last of our dong on snacks and around 9pm we boarded the plane to Phuket.

I read the lonely planet to get a better idea of where we would stay and what to see on Phuket. It was a quick flight and we arrived ahead of schedule. As we exited the airport from baggage claim we met a couple from California and they told us they were going to Kamala Beach and it was a really cool place where they had actually lived for a while teaching English so we decided to go there first. We also met some Spanish people and I was really happy to practice my Spanish with them. We all needed a cab and it was ridiculously expensive so we grouped up to get a better deal.
They were bargaining like crazy and ended up taking an hour to get out of the airport and only saved 1 buck between us all. We got 2 cabs for the 6 of us and headed to Kamala Beach. It was a 30 min cab ride and around 1 in the morning when we got there so we were not sure if we were going to find a room but luckily we did. We all threw our stuff in the room and headed out to look for food but at this hour only 711 was open so we all got food there if you can call it that and roamed the streets for a bit chatting in Spanish which was really fun for me. We walked to the beach sat for a while talking and then tiredly headed off to bed.

The Search For A Proper Dirty Martini

2009-12-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today we pretty much did nothing but chill on the beach get a massage and eat seafood. At the end of the massage without asking they did a thing called threading where the lady uses a string and twists it pulling out the hairs on my neck,. it was so painful. Around sunset we had to move our chairs because the resturaunt was setting up tables on the beach for dinner. So we returned to the room took showers and went on a seach for a dirty martini.

Ever since we went to the Martini Bar back in Vientiane, Laos I have been spoiled by their goodness. Asia is not exactly the place to get classy drinks but this place is Laos really set the bar to high and everything since has dwindled in comparison. Since this island is pretty ritzy I figured we had a good chance of finding a good one at one of the fancy resorts so we took off down the beach on a mission.

We stopped in at all the resorts and bars on the beach looking at the menus laughing at everything and trying to explain dirty martini to the Vietnamese bartenders who had no clue as to what we were talking about. It was pretty hilarious, us in board shorts and no shirt walking up to the big money resorts where couples fine dinning sat and we asked for dirty martinis acting high class with no class at all.. Finally about 15 minutes walking down the beach we came to the Spice Garden another big resort, where a canadina guy named Kieth mannaged the bar and resturaunt, we did we finally get a martini from him..
We talked for a while and he told us there was no olives on the island and our search was just never gonna lead us to a dirty martini. Instead he told us he could make a mint chocolate martini that he said was really good so we took his word for it and got one as well as the Pork Cordon Blue which was a deep fried pork wrapped around ham with motzerella cheese in the middle which was awsome.

We hung out for a while drank our martinis and talked about life and our trip. It was a great conversation and Chris and I felt really connected in our hopes and dreams for future events to come as well as our plans for work and living upon our return homme. Afterwards we headed back to Eden and played pool for a while checked out a bonfire on the beach and went to bed.

Phu Quoc Island

2009-12-17T05:32:00.000-08:00

Day 52

Time to go to the island! Got up early to get our boat at 730am. We boarded the SuperDong 2 and had a 2 hour ride to the island.

The fresh air rushes past as we cruz to the island. We pass small green islands all around as well as tons of fishing boats. I feel a very positive energy as the sun hits my back and think about my trip so far as well as what is to come and smile. The farther we go the cleaner the water looks and its color turns from a brown green to a deep blue. We met some other backpackers on the boat and all share a shuttle bus to get a hotel. Get a bungalow right on the beach and put our feet into the white sand and feel completely content and relaxed.

Its about time to get rid of this Mohawk but I have no clippers so I decide to do it with scissors. I then walked the beach and just sat in the sun. I talked with the locals who ran our hotel restaurant joking and practicing the few Vietnamese word I knew. The sun began to set and the sky became a brilliant blue with orange and white clouds and the sun cats its long shimmering image across the water sparkling on its surface touching the beach at my feet. The waves wash up and away creating an amazing shine in the sand and becoming more intense as the sun begins to join with the horizon. Reds Oranges and yellows meet with the deep blue of the water and light blue along the shore creating a picture perfect moment.

Mae Cong Delta Day 2 Moving South

2009-12-17T05:12:00.000-08:00

Day 51

We had to get up at 6:45 am today in order to make it down the river to meet up with the rest of the tour. Saw a floating market, a rice noodle factory and then took a cruz up and down the river taking in the sights. Its really amazing how many boats are on this river and how much work is done on the water. Hundreds of people transport goods, work, live and fish along the muddy banks of the river. We pass all size boats with whole families living and working aboard. The river banks are lined with bamboo shacks that run right up to the water with their foundation, some under water already. The typical Vietnamesse bamboo hats are everywhere and small women row these rikidy boats loaded high with all kinds of fruit and produce. Some smile and wave while others are to concerned with their work to even notice us.

Unlike Central America on our last trip where I would see lots of people sitting around during the day and drinking doing nothing, here everyone seems dedicated to a task and works day in day out. Some do sit around but only waiting to sell their products to others passing by. They sit quiet but come alive and try to sell you whatever they can as you pass by. Toothless old ladies and scroungy old men work on small tasks like selling bread or fruit but often sit aside as the rest of the family works, quietly observing as time passes by. Work is a constant state of life for people here and the hustle and bustle of the streets fills you with an inner respect for what they must do to live and support their families. Often you can see the stress of life apparent in their old wrinkled faces as they see more and more tourists pass them by with big cameras and fancy watches when most of their life they have had nothing but the cloths on their backs. The contrast from our crazy lives to their simple yet chaotic exsistence which they must endure day to day, really makes me feel blessed to have options and the ability to travel and learn from my expierences.

     We get back and take a buss to Rach Gai where I got to see one of the coolest markets I have seen yet. It lines the river and boats are parked next to the market with loads of produce being unloaded and sold in a very small area. Everyone is happy and says hello as I pass. I went back to the hotel, took a nap and then Chris and I walked around for a bit and looking for food. As we were on our way back to the hotel we met a group of people hanging out on the street and sat down with them drinking and eating with them which was really cool. From their excitement i don't think many tourist come to this city. This was our first real Vietnam experience and made us both really happy to be here and meet these people.

     As we were walking back to our hotel after checking out the city a group of about 10 local's waved to us and held up a glass of beer motioning us over to them. We turned around and were greated very enthusiasticly as they stood up and offered us their chairs. Sat down and kind of felt like a amusment park attraction but they were extremely nice. No one really spoke any English but we were still able to communicate through body launguage which was very cool. They had big silver canisters of a home made beer which they basicly force fed to us and when the beer ran out we offered to buy them more but they refused to take our money. We insisted and gave one about $3 and zooms off on his motor bike.
    He returned about 10 minutes later with 4 more canisters of beer and a huge bag full of food. They unloaded a box of spicy crab claws and chicken numblets to us and we all dug in laughing, taking pictures of eachother and trading hats. Spent a good two hours with them before we said our goodbyes and headed off to bed. Amazing experience im glad we got to have!

Mae Cong Delta

2009-12-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Day 50

We were up early again for our bus at 8 am to go on the Mae Cong Delta River Cruz. Just took our small backpacks and left our big ones in the office because we were gonna be on and off the river and boats and then the island and did not want to lug our big bags around with us. It was a 3 hour ride to our first boat and I slipped on my ipod and drifted off letting my mind daydream as we left the city. When we arrived we got on a small boat with tiny blue wooden benches, not to comfortable and took off across the river. The water was a murky brown with lots of debris and river plants floating around in it as well as blue and black smoke filling the air from all of the boats that were going up and down the river around us.

Our first stop was to see the honey bees and sample their honey tea as well as getting to hold a huge Python.

Back on the boat to another small dock where we sat and ate fresh fruit while a woman sang local songs to us. Off to another small island and had lunch. Chris and I were pretty tired and laid down in hammocks after lunch dozing off and waking up realizing our boat was probably waiting for us so we headed back to the dock where they were waiting. Went to another spot on the river to a small muddy channel where 4 per boat were taken down a very small channel by locals surrounded by river palms.

Our guide for the trip was a hilarious and very small kick boxer and he made jokes with us the whole time saying he could kick our ass if we got out of line really adding to the experience on the boat. Locals were waist deep in the water along the shores picking crabs and coconuts off the bottom of the river. This area is so much different then the rest of Vietnam and the people here depend soley on the Mae Cong River which runs from China all the way to Southern Vietnam where it meets the ocean.

Connected with the bigger boat to the coconut candy shop where they demonstrated how they made it and gave us a sample. All of these stops today were meant to sell to the tourists stuff and felt kinda lame but it was cool to see areas of the river we never would have been able to see on our own. We then got back to the harbor and met up with another bus that was going to Can Tho for our next night where we would be staying with a local family on the river. It had been a really long day and after 2 and a half hours on a bus we arrived in the city and had to get on another boat out to the Bungalows on the river. It took us another hour and a half to get to the bungalows in pitch black darkness on a small boat which was really tiring after our long day and when we arrived we were totally beat. We had dinner which was really good, making our own spring rolls with fresh fish they had taken from their pond right in the back of their house. After we went to bed and tried to get some sleep but that was not easy. We were right on the river and these boats that sounded like semi trucks went past every 5 minutes as well as a road right on the other side of our bungalows with motor bikes so sleep was not easy.

Chu Chi Tunnels

2009-12-16T06:03:00.000-08:00

Day 49

We got up early today at 7:30 am and went to a tour company to go and visit the Chu Chi Tunnels from the Vietnam War. It was a 90 min bus ride to get there and I put my ipod in and dosed off along the way. It was a very interesting experience learning about the Viet Cong and hearing about how the tunnels were constructed with many levels they had dug by hand as deep as 10 meters to avoid bombing and attacks by the Americans and French. They even had underground kitchens and special vents that reached the surface for air and the smoke from cooking. We walked around and checked out some tunnel entrances as well as some huge craters created by the bombs dropped during the war.

Near the beginning of the war area to the tunnels there was a extremely small hole in the ground which was camouflaged with leaves that lead into the tunnel systems. I am pretty skinny and was one of the only people who could barely fit inside scraping my sides as I slid in. When I lowered the cover it was almost pitch dark with a hole about a foot and half high going into the blackness. This really gave me a sense of what it was like inside and I cant even begin to imagine what the Viet Cong went through fighting and living in these conditions, really blew my mind. They built these entrances this small so that the American soldiers being big people would not be able to fit inside. The Americans defence against this was sending attack dogs into the holes. The tunnels were lined with brutal booby traps that could be activated after the Vietnamese soldier had passed over it killing or badly injuring the dogs or anyone else unlucky enough to enter their lair.

Our guides English was not great and it was a task just to try to understand what he was saying but I think we got a good history lesson. Went to a shooting range and got to shoot a automatic M60 rifle which can shoot up to 600 rounds a minute. It was extremely loud and powerful, almost ear drum shattering but exciting for the both of us. This is glorification of the violence of war and is arguably wrong because it is letting us take a part in shooting off ammo which killed thousands but at the same time a one of a kind experience.

After that we were shown how they make rice paper and rice wine. Next we went to a section of tunnels that were big enough us westerners to crawl through and we actually went about 300 feet on our hands and knees underground. At one point the tunnel was so tight I had to just barely sqeeze though on my back in order to make it out the other side.

As we finished the tour and were walking back to the bus there was a restaurant that had a bottle of whiskey with a Cobra in it and I did a shot which was really strong feeling the burn for 15 to 20 mins afterward.

After the 90 min ride back to Saigon we got some food and sat down in the tour company and booked a Mai Khong delta cruz and a trip to Phu Quoc Island before our Vietnam Visa expired. It was a long day and we were totally exhausted and returned to our hotel. The dude who we had shared our room with turned out to be a extremely loud snorer and sleep talker, speaking in some alien launguage which had us cracking up as well as not sleeping due to the noise. We packed our things for the next day and watched tv trying to fall asleep.

On The Road Again And On To Saigon

2009-12-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

Day 48

I got up pretty late packed my bag and went to the ATM to get money. We said goodbye to our friends we had made over the week and got on our bus around 2pm.

We left Mui Ne passing beautiful scenery and soon outside the bus window dirty streets and millions of motor bikes started to take over.

We arrived in Saigon and got a room at hotel 96 with a guy from Brooklyn that we had met on the bus. Walked the streets for a while taking in the city. We met some guy's sitting on the street in small chairs where you could get a liter of beer for 11,000 dong which is around 50 cents per liter. So we hung out there for a while and chatted with the group, a few Germans, an Aussie, a guy from Holland, an English dude and a Cali boy who was from San Francisco. As we sat there Rachel the Canadian girl who we met in Lao walked by and then the English guys from Pai and then a Irish girl we had met in Mui Ne. Saigon is definitely a place all travelers end up in and obviously we have all been on somewhat the same path meeting up in lots of difference place. It was cool to share our stories and find out what places people had been and what they liked the most. I stayed out until around 3am roaming Saigons merchant infested streets and then had to call it a night.

Mui Ne Day 8

2009-12-16T04:57:00.000-08:00

Day 47

We got haircuts today! Chris had gone across the street from our hotel to get a massage and haircut and when he got back he told me that the lady that cut his hair had no idea what she was doing and it was probably the first haircut she had ever done. It was bad, I mean really bad. The sides were shaved a little and a chunk in the back with like 4 lengths on top. I told him I would go back with him and fix it. We went back and I asked if I could use their clippers and re-cut his hair. As I started all 3 girls in the shop crowded around and watched intently. I gave Chris a pretty good cut and then looked in the mirror and decided I needed a cut myself. It started normal but then I had an impulse and gave myself a Mohawk with Chris egging me on. I also shaved lines in my beard and it was quite a change to say the least.

After we chilled by the pool and relaxed in the sun. Later on we got dinner and went to our regular bar Pogo. We were like the only people there and an English girl and her group asked us if we wanted to go to have our own beach party down the road and hang out, so we did. Two guys played guitar and we all sang sublime and other songs that everyone knew, except the Aussie songs that I had never heard, but enjoyed. We stayed out all night and at 5:30am we got back to our hotel went to the beach and watched the sun rise.

Mui Ne Day 7

2009-12-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

Day 46

When I got up I had an enormous hunger and went straight to the restaurant for food. Two breakfasts and a big fruit shake took care of that. Off to the pool and in less than an hour I was hungry again so I went across the street for more food and after Austin and Estonia girls decide to walk the beach to check out the kite surfers. We stopped for more food on the main beach as we watched the kite surfers zip around the water. We got a taxi back and played cards for a while at our hotel as I busted out some of my very limited card tricks which was good fun. We went our for dinner not to long after and had scallops which were amazing. Another pogo night in full effect good times.

Mui Ne Day 6

2009-12-11T03:31:00.000-08:00

Day 45

Woke up and laid in bed for a while watching TV and talking about last nights events. I had some food and hung around the pool with the Estonia girls enjoying the sun and company. Around lunch I was already hungry again. Another Phat Burger because I had walked to the ATM which was past it so i just could not pass it up on my way back.

I got back to the room and took a nap until around 7 and when i got up the Estonia girls, who were our neighbors, were in front of the room with their ipod pre-partying so I joined them talking and listening to their Estonia music.

We walked back to DJ Station in hopes of another good night but it was quiet so we returned to Pogo and made our own party. We returned to the room around 2 or 3 and I went to my room but heard through the wall music and laughing so I poked my head into the girls room and they were dancing around and so I joined them laughing and being entertained until i fell asleep.

Mui Ne Day 5

2009-12-11T02:04:00.000-08:00

Day 44

What a beautiful day again. Today I had to lay off the Phat Burger but Chris finnally well enough to walk around went and got one himself. Walked about 1.5 miles down the beach to watch the kite surfers. I dident put any sun screen on and got seriously sunburnt.

(sorry mom, did not use sunscreen today)

Instead of walking all the way back I got a motorbike to the hotel, met up with the Estonian girls who had showed up that day and went out to Pogo where it was dead so we all went down the road to the DJ station. There was about 50 people there and I saw a few people I had met before in Thailand. I heard the funniest pick up line tonight "my friend really likes hats, you should go talk to her" so I did and the first thing she said to me was "I really like hats". After this interesting encounter I met some loud English girls and we danced all night.

Mui Ne Day 4

2009-12-11T01:54:00.000-08:00

What do you know, breakfast at Phat Burger once again eating in the room as he is still not well enough to leave. Was a hot and sunny day so I swam in the pool and sun bathed most of the day. Met some new people, had dinner, played some pool and went out that evening.

Mui Ne Day 3

2009-12-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

Got up slow today, took a swim and walked to Phat Burger for the Phat Breakie Burger which I brought back to the room for Chris and I. Chris was feeling better today but needed another day of rest so stayed in bed all day.

Kirk and Aussies were taking off around 2 so we chilled around the pool awaiting their departure. Went for yet another Phat Burger for Chris and I and we hung out in the room watching movies on HBO. Told Chris I was going out for one beer but stayed out till 2am hanging out with some people we had met in Halong Bay.

Mui Ne Day 2

2009-12-11T01:45:00.000-08:00

Did not do much of anything today besides hanging by the pool and getting Chris food as he was ill from either sun poisoning or other food ailments. He stayed in bed all day almost passing out when he stood up and making me worry a lot.

My health seems to be taking a turn for the worst lately. After our first day in Na Trang I felt like I was going to die, throwing up all the time and in cold sweats. I felt fine the next two days so it seemed it was ok to go out in the Jeep. Was in the sun all day long and I think I got sun poisoning. Every time I stood up my vision would tunnel until I could not see at all and my heart beat would increase substantially. I almost went to the hospital but it was really far away and I dident think I could make it there so I just laid in bed and hydrated myself while Zev brought me everything I needed.

Some German girls I had met the night before came to the pool and hung out for a while before going on a motor bike tour to a temple close by. I was going to go with them but worried about Chris I stayed and messed around on the internet, got dinner and watched TV with Chris keeping him company in our icy air conditioned room.
Kirk, the Aussies and I went down the street to Phat Burger for dinner, this was the best burger of the whole trip, scratch that, best burger in all of Asia. Again went to Pogo, played kings cup and go rowdy.

Jeeping In Mui Ne

2009-12-11T01:30:00.000-08:00

Day 40

Today the sun is finally shining so I got up and took a swim in the ocean with Rowey and chill by the pool. At 1pm we got a Jeep tour to see the Sand dunes and surrounding area.

We walked down a river with red cliffs and little streams running down the canyon creating red and yellow silt along the riverbank making the water an interesting color. At the end there was a waterfall where we got wet to beat the heat.

Next we stopped at the fishing village with a horrid stench of rotting fish because this is the area they make huge amounts of fish sauce and it really curls your stomach.

Onto the white sand dunes which sits beside a small lake flourishing with lilies and clear water, a beautiful place. We got large pieces of plastic and tried to slide down the dunes but failed as it was just not steep enough to pick up speed.

After we stopped at the red dunes which were actually just yellow for sunset, we were all tired and hungry from being in the sun all day so we did not stay to long.

Again went out to Pogo for the night playing cards and acting crazy with the Aussie Boys.

Chasing The Sun To Mui Ne

2009-12-11T00:59:00.000-08:00

DAY 39

I woke up abruptly to Chris holding my itouch in my face saying Zev get up the bus will be here in 15 minutes your alarm didn't go off. I jumped up got my stuff and we were out the door in 2 minutes. We waited only a few minutes before the bus arrived and hopped on to Mui Ne. The Aussie guys we had met in Pai, Thailand and again in Vaing Vieng, Laos were on the bus and we talked a bit as we exited town. I got to reading my book again and was swept away into the wild of Alaska for the rest of the bus ride. This book really inspires me and makes me really happy I have decided to become a world traveler.
As I finished the book I glanced out the window to see the expansive fields and hills stretching out in the distance and was truly touched by its beauty. It reminds me of so many places I have seen in magazines like Africa and Australia because of its dry climate but at the same point it is completely new to me and has characteristics all of its own. This is the driest region in all of Vietnam, where the sand dunes rise and fall in the distance as they stretch away from the sea and little shrubs speckle the ground as far as the eye can see.

    The brilliant orange and yellow of the earth has a crazy contrast to the deep blue of the water and the whiteish grey haze that fills the sky. Little huts line the sand in the middle of nowhere with pipes and work equipment lining the sides of the highway. The Ocean seems calm and mellow compared to the deep and rich colors of the sand that it touches. We approach the small city of Mui Ne and the long beach stretches out along the bay as a few high rises and cranes come into view. Still we are faced with overcast sky's which has been mostly our luck thus far in Vietnam. Construction seems to be everywhere in this country and always in a mid process with bright orange bricks exposed with half completed walls jetting up everywhere and makeshift scaffolding at its sides.
    Small groups of 4-5 work slowly but in a timeless fassion on what seems to be an endless process of constructing hotels which they could probably not afford to stay. They still work with dedication and respect for their craft as I pass by in the bus waving and getting an occasional wave or small cracked smile from them as we zoom past. Others on the bus sleep but I am wide awake with thought and ideas after reading my book filling myself with emotion and a need to express myself in a new way. I love These moments of new found clarity in life, and in travel where I am able to express myself in writing.
    Its around 1:30pm when we arrive in Mui Ne and walk to the hotel where Debbie, Wes and Kirk are staying. The Aussie boys come as well and we all check in having some cold beers and play pool for a while before we take a dip in the pool and swim in the sea. We all go out for a seafood dinner which is awesome with huge tiger prawns, squid, fish, crab and shrimp. We all go out to the Pogo bar and play more pool and enjoy our time together.

Sick In Na Trang

2009-12-11T00:40:00.000-08:00

DAY 38

We got to Na Trang around 6 am and Chris had turned white in the face and had puked a few times from the bumpy bus ride, so we decided to stay over a night and rest up while the rest of the group went on. We checked into a hotel and Chris went straight to bed while I walked around the city to check it out. I went to the beach, a church and found myself aimlessly walking around the streets and stumbling across a street market that was very cool. I got strange looks from all of the people, like I usually do but these looks led me to believe that not many tourist come to this market which made it different and exciting to be off the normal path and among real culture, seeing how local people are in their everyday routine.

After leaving the market I realized I was totally lost so I stopped at a corner store had some food and asked a motor bike guy for directions. When he told me where I was it clicked and realized I was only 2 blocks from my hotel. He tried to get me to go on the bike back but I declined and walked back to the hotel. I was a bit tired and exhausted from the overnight bus so I crashed out the rest of the day and messed around on the internet on my itouch untill dinner time. I got Chris up and we went to the Bananna Split across from our hotel had some food and came straight back to the hotel watching some TV doing some blog work before bed.

Hoi An to Na Trang

2009-12-11T00:30:00.000-08:00

DAY 37

Pillaged the buffet once more and then went for my last fitting at the tailors. I sent my stuff back via Sea mail which takes 3 months and then returned to the hotel. Chris and I sat in the lobby and blogged all day while we waited for our night bus south to Mui Ne. We got snacks and got on our bus around 6:30. This bus was nicer than the last one and I could hang my feet off the end of the seat into the isle making the ride a little less painful. I actually got some sleep on the bus and had 3 cute danish girls next to me so I had good company which made the ride more interesting.

Hoi An

2009-12-11T00:22:00.000-08:00

DAY 36

Went to the buffet 2 times this morning and packed in the food again. Eva had done crazy shopping spending almost $800 and had appointments to get fittings all over town, so she took off at 10am to make her rounds. I packed up in my room and moved my stuff into Jeannie and Shea's room for that night and then hung out with Chris in his room napping until 4pm when I had my first fitting for my suit and jackets. The suits were sharp and I was very pleased with the work with only a little change in the suit to make it a little tighter fit.

Eva was running around like a mad woman having bought at like 7 different shops around the city so when she returned she was a bit frazzeled and had to pack up and leave for her flight to Saigon at 6:30. We hung out at the pool bar again and said our goodbyes to Eva and I saw her off. Kirk and Wes knew of a good spot for dinner so we all went out and had a great meal. Decided to take it easy and returned to the hotel with Shea. We had HBO for once so we watched some TV and went to bed.

Custom Suits In Hoi An

2009-12-10T04:20:00.000-08:00

DAY 35

I got up for the free breakfast buffet in the morning, I took full advantage of the free meal and stuffed myself even making an extra baguette sandwich to have for lunch. The girls all went off shopping again and I chilled out in the room and took my time getting out of the hotel. I was supposed to meet Eva at lunch time but she got carried away shopping and never came back to the room so I walked around and sat down at a tailor shop called Kimmys and started to plan out a suit to be made. I got a full suit with their best material, two jackets and 3 shirts all custom made and only paid $295. This took quite a while to pick the materials and colors and styles as well as being measured and re-measured.

After I went back to the hotel our friend's the Swiss boys showed up and our whole group went across the street to a family restaurant bar and played pool and hung with the owner.

Afterwards we all went down by the river to the Nam Bar where I started to DJ with the computer they had, bumping hip hop and having a awesome dance party. Chris was in full form tonight and we had a blast.

Because I had got more people to come in and everyone was dancing they gave me free rum buckets the rest of the night. It was a great night and when we were ready to go home we got motor bike guys to give us a ride home zipping up small streets as I held on for my life. Exhausted I went to bed and had another great nights sleep in my huge bed.

China Beach to Hoi An

2009-12-10T03:58:00.000-08:00

DAY 34

I actually got a full 8 hours last night and when I got up Eva and I decided to go check out the Emerald Temple which had a large Pagoda on the top of the hill. This is the first real one I have ever seen. Ive always been fascinated by them since my 4th grade project where my dad and I built a model for a school project. It was pretty cool but they were building more at the temple site and it seemed very touristy with lots of old white tourist there so the ora was lost for me.

On our way back we stopped for breakfast and I learned from Eva that the smaller the chairs in a restaurant the cheaper and more local the food is. This was true and the food was excellent. We then went back to Hoa's, paid up our bills and hopped on a shuttle bus filled with about 13 of us as well as everyone's huge backpacks piled in the isles.

We all kind of split up when we arrived, some staying at the hotel we were dropped off at, while others including me went off searching for different places closer to the center of town. Found a spectacular room for $20 a night with a huge king size bed flat screen tv and balcony overlooking the pool. This is not normal as a backpacker and I really enjoyed the extra space and huge bed for the next few days. I chilled out while the girls all went off to shop at the hundreds of tailor shops which is why most tourist come to Hoi An, to get cheap taylor made suits and dresses. Because of the comforts of the room I just relaxed in the room and rested up while I had the chance, planning to do my shopping the next day.

Birthday Parties At Hoas Place

2009-12-10T03:47:00.000-08:00

DAY 33

When we woke up it was raining so there wasn't much to do. We stayed indoors and I took a nap from 11-2 which was much needed because I haven t slept more than 6 hours a night this whole trip. I am always up early eager to go see things and cant sleep in even when I try. It was Jeannie's birthday that night and Debbie's 2 days later so we had a big birthday party planned. Hoa the owner a very cool dude helped plan the party and got us a cake made with the girls names on it..

We had another big dinner and I again helped the ladies serve the meal from the kitchen and learning their names and joking with them as I served the food. After dinner I lit candles and brought the cake out to the girls as we all sang happy birthday to them. We had Chris' Ipod speakers and listened to music and partied until 10 and then moved our party down to the beach and made a bon fire. It was a great night of dancing and celebration which lasted until the ipod speakers died.

China Beach

2009-12-10T03:33:00.000-08:00

Day 32

Never fully asleep throughout the night, I abruptly woke up at 6 or 7 and we had stopped off for breakfast. I got off the bus and had fried eggs with a baguette the most common meal in Vietnam. We had another hour or so on the bus and arrived in Hue where we met Chris and Debbie standing at the bus stop waiting for the next buss to Danang. Arrived in Danang and got a taxi over to Hoa's Guest house on China Beach. As soon as we walked in Hoa the owner said to us "put your bags down, chill out and relax" which was a great starting point to our stay. At last we had a beautiful sunny day on the beach laying in the sun and swimming in the ocean.

That night we had dinner at Hoa's and I helped out the ladies in the kitchen by serving the food for them, in turn got heaps of spring rolls and my own serving of fish and chicken for free.

The Phone rang and the lady behind the desk spoke no English, so she motioned for me to come over and talk for her. It was Eva calling, our friend from our insane bus ride in Laos. She was at the airport calling to see if there was a room available. The first call broke up and I knew it was her but the call had dropped so I waited by the phone until she called back. She did asking if there was a room and I said its me Zev just come the whole crew is here and there is plenty of room. She showed up about a half hour later and we all chilled out and had a great night. We all went to the ocean and had a midnight swim and then went to bed.

Hal Lo Prison

2009-12-10T03:23:00.000-08:00

Day 31

Shea and I went to see the Hal Lo Prison today where senator John Machain was held prisoner during the Vietnam War. It was very interesting to see the videos and pictures they had which showed the prisoners living like they were at a summer camp. The videos showed them happy playing sports eating a big Christmas dinner as well as receiving gifts, and being returned home in good spirits. It was a lot to take in and seemed to be very biased but how could I really know what it was like. Overall it was a unique experience and very interesting to see.

We then met up with Jeannie and booked our over night buss ticket down the coast to Hoi An. The bus was supposed to show up at 6pm but didn't show up until after 7 so we were a little ancy to get on our way. Finally we were on the bus and it was terribly uncomfortable for me in a little seat that my legs barley fit in. To make things even worse the bus driver honks his horn every 15 seconds at bikes and cars so that they move out of the way which made sleep impossible. I put on my ipod to drown out the noise and tried to get some sleep. We arrived early in the morning and if you are a big person this is definitely not the way to make the trip and would not recommend it.

Cat Ba Day 3

2009-12-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Day 30

Got the local slow boat back to the mainland with Kirk, Wes and Deb and we then hired a driver to take us to Nim Bihm where we were going to catch the sleeper bus to Danang.

The driver dropped me off at a hospital and I showed my X-rays to one of the doctors hoping to get a diagnosis. No dice though as he also did not speak english, he did point to a area in my neck and say "bad bad". Well thats great. Got into Nim Bihm and booked a room at a ghetto hotel. There were alot of other travelers and this town seems to be a hub for going south.

That night I heard about a blind massuse for really cheap so I got him to give me a massage. He came into the room feeling the walls till he got to me and introduced himself as Chang. He was a very cool guy and his English was not to bad. We talked for a while about where I was from and traveling. In the middle of my massage he says to me that he is a singer, I say wow really that's cool can I hear? He then slowly starts singing Christmas carols! I couldn't not laugh as it was just such a weird experience getting a massage and being sung roudauf the red nose reindeer.

We got up at 7 to get over to the sunflower to join the group and go back with the tour on a boat to Hanoi. Chris, Debbie, Kirk and Wes decided to go back on a local slow boat so we left them in the morning and went back with the tour since we had already paid for it and it would get us back to the Drift Backpackers hostel where we had left our big backpacks. We said goodbye and took off on the buss to get the boat back to the mainland. We got back to the harbor had lunch and got on a bus back to the city. We checked back into the hostel and chilled out in the movie room and messed around on the internet.

Another Day on Cat ba Island

2009-12-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

Day 29

We had to be up early that morning to get off the boat and transfer to another which would bring us to Cat Ba Island. The 2nd boat was not as nice but we just relaxed for a couple hours inside until we reached the Island. As soon as we landed we saw our friends Jeanie and B-Rye who were hopping on another boat north to Sapa. We gave each other hugs and said good bye again getting on the bus to the National Park. Again my neck was giving me problems so Deb and I just hung out in the hammocks outside for a bit before getting back on the bus to town.

We checked in to a pretty nice hotel and had a great lunch with everyone. Our guide said there was a hospital that could look at my neck so I got on the back of a motorbike and got a ride to the hospital. I was thinking maybe I had a slipped disc or something that could be seen in a X-Ray. I got there and was in shock of its state. It literally looked like a bomb had went off and they made a half built "hospital" around the blast. Most ghetto thing id ever seen. No one spoke any English so with body language I explained how my neck hurt and I needed a X-Ray. I went to the X-Ray guy and he signaled for me to give him my sunglasses. He put them on and put him thumbs up saying "Terminator" haha it was hilarious. He then led me into a small concrete room with a X-Ray machine from the 70's. I paid $10 for the X-Rays and hopped back on the motor bike to meet up with everyone.

I got up for breakfast at 7 to say goodbye to everyone from our tour and gave tom a tip for being such a great tour guide and friend. Shea and I decided to stay an extra day and wait for Chris, Debbie, Kirk and Wes to show up from their boat tour they had started a day later than us. I then returned to the room and slept until check out at ten. We left our bags behind the desk at the hotel and walked ten minutes to Cat Ba beach #2. We found Hammocks on the beach and I actually started my book Into The Wild. We had the whole beach to ourselves and just hung out roaming the sand and picking up sea shells. We relaxed and both and wrote our blogs sharing stories and goofing around.

We hung around the beach until 4:30 and then walked back to town to find a room for the night. We got a nice room with a balcony view and napped for an hour. We then walked over to the hotel we had been in with the tour to find our friends. They were there having dinner and we made plans to hang out that evening. A whole new group had come into town on the tour and it was quite a party and a great night dancing on the stage and taking hilarious pictures. I walked a group back to their hotel and then returned to mine where I found Shea munching Oreos and still awake. We chatted a bit and went to sleep.

To Cat Ba Island

2009-11-22T05:25:00.000-08:00

Day 28

Got up at 6am to watch the sunrise on the top deck of the boat while everyone else sleeped in. It was very peaceful this morning and I had some time to myself to reflect on my journey.

Others slowy got up around 7:30 for breakfast as the boat took off for Cat Ba Island.

Left everyone and met up with Brian and brother to go on a short hike in the National Park. Tom our guide was great entertainment and him and I really bonded today.

The hike was really sketchy becuase it was wet, slippery and packed with people on a small jungle path. At the top there was a old war lookout tower that was really rusty and a sign that says max 5 people at a time. We took turns going up it and I went up trying not to get stung by enormous wasps at the top. My hands were shaking as I took pics because the tower was so high.

Tom and I hiked back down the hill me teaching him English words and him teaching me some Vietnam history. Returned to the hotel, had lunch and then went on a boat to monkey island. It was more like a nice beach with a few monkeys that were constantly trying to steal your belongings. It was cool though to finally be on a beach where we could swim and hang out.

Had dinner back in town and went to the waterfront to take in the city. Tom took us around the corner to a bar where we all hung out and mingled with other back packers.

One interesting thing I noticed about this island is that there are tons of groups of guys, some holding hands. This struck me as odd becuase I did not see any local woman on the streets, but I have later learned that this is normal behavior for vietnamese men. Played pool for a while, got some late night food and returned to bed around 2am.

Halong Bay

2009-11-22T02:06:00.000-08:00

Day 28

Out of our hotel by 8am and take about a 3 hour bus trip to the Halong Bay Harbor. Take a little ferry boat out to the main boat called a "junk". The Junk was very nice and was something like a floating fancy hotel.

Our rooms were great as well with a huge bed and one of the biggest bathrooms we have had all trip. Unload our stuff and have a great 5 course lunch with fresh fish, squid and all sorts of sea food. I was very impressed. Later we got off the junk and took a small boat to some very large caves in the mountains that shoot up from the sea in small islands. It was very cool and looked like the Bat Cave with all the rocks lit up in different colors.

After wards we stopped at the floating market where they had all sorts of exotic sea life for sale. Everyone went out Kayaking but my neck was still killing me so I sat it out and just talked with another girl who also could not kayak because she broke her ribs and busted her ear drum in Vang Viang. Back to the main boat and we went swimming and just hung out on the top deck talking with the other people on board, enjoying the amazing scenery. They have dubbed this area the 8th wonder of the world and its for good reason.

For dinner we switched up the groups and two kids about 9 and 12 years old joined us. The boy was freakin hilarious and was defiantly a aspiring comedian. He had me in tears multiple times making fun of our English friend Wes and his accent. He was the kind of kid where you just cant say anything with out a witty comeback. We hung out around the table for most the night doing Karaoke and I turned in around 10pm.

One More Day In Crazy Town

2009-11-22T01:27:00.000-08:00

Day 27

Zev left this morning with Jeanie and Shea to go on the overnight boat cruise to Halong Bay while Deb, Kirk, Wes and I decided to stay another day and check out the city. We checked out of the hostel as it was just way to chaotic and cramped and got a pretty nice hotel closer to the lake and center of town. My neck had been killing me since Vang Vieng where I accidentally pulled a muscle in it so we looked for a hospital or doctor to take a look at it. Found a American doctor but he wanted $150 just to see me so we decided against that. Spent most of the day just walking around the city and the huge lake in the center of town.

Got a massage and a bunch of food all while trying to not get run over by motor bikes. Just crossing the streets in a mission and seems like a death wish as scooters wiz inches away from you at random. Later that evening we all went out to dinner at the top of one of the biggest building giving us a great view. We had to get up early the next morning to catch the bus to Halong Bay so we all crashed out.

Halong Bay Cruise

2009-11-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

Day 27

Got up at 7 and went for free breakfast which consisted of toast, bananas and coffee or tea. Downed about 6 or 7 pieces of toast couple cups of coffee and awaited our shuttle buss to take us the the boat. Our guide was very cool, spoke good English and was very insightful telling us all sorts of things about the islands and Vietnamese culture. We arrived at the harbor and I had my ipod on dancing as we waited to board the boat. The boat had two older couples two younger couples, two English guys, one old Swedish man, Jeannie, Shea and I and two other guys, one from San Diego and the other from Brazil. The group seemed a little quiet and I was in a great mood so I immediately started talking to everyone cracking jokes and lightening the mood.

When we got on the boat we started a dance party on the main deck jumping around and making a scene. They had funky disco music on and I jumped around yelling at the other boats passing making people on the other boats wave to us as we danced around the deck.

Everything beside the meals on the boat costs money so we brought some of our own drinks and kept them in the room. We had family style lunch getting to know one another as our boat made its way to the caves and floating market in the Halong bay islands. They served fish, squid, chicken, rice, soup, spring rolls and for desert water melon. After lunch we sat on lawn chairs on the top deck and looking at the hundreds of beautiful islands that stretch as far as the eye can see.

We made our way to the caves and went kayaking after around the islands. When we got back to the boat we got to swim for a while and I started it off by jumping off the 3rd deck about 15-20ft into the water. Afterwords we showered up and went for dinner in the dining area. They put Karaoke on and I busted out with MC Hammer not knowing the words so I just free styled and pretended to know the song. The staff got into it and joined the party all having a great time and bonding with the rest of the group.

The older couple fished for squid off the back of the boat and were pretty mellow so I joined them for a bit and talked for a while before heading to bed on the boat around 11:30.

Flying from Laos To Vietnam

2009-11-21T00:57:00.000-08:00

Day 26

   Off to to Hanoi, Vietnam on the death plane Debbie had so nicely dubbed it as we woke up making me feel a little uneasy about flying. So I joke about it for a while to lighten the mood and try not to think about some crazy airplane crashing in the middle of the jungle. We all packed up had some breakfast at Jomes Bakery a chain over here which is like star bucks with a little more class. I was nearly out of kip and borrowed money so I did not have to take more kip out and be stuck with that useless useless currency in Vietnam. It was pretty hot today and so Kirk and I just lay in the room for a while AC pumping to keep from sweating like crazy.

    We arrived at the airport and checked our bags then waiting and hour and half for our boarding time. I fell straight asleep on the plane and woke up upon landing.

We had booked rooms at the Drift Backpackers Hostel and got a free pick up from the airport to the hostel. The traffic in Honoi the captial of Vietnam is madness and there seems to be no rules on the road. There are 4-5 million motor bikes in the city and they go anywhere they chose weaving in all directions at any intersection. We all stay glued to the windows watching the traffic zig zag and criss cross as we make our way to the hostel. We arrived frazzeled and tired from traveling and check into our rooms. The lobby of the hostel was crazy a well and and a little to much for me to deal with at the time so I just sat at the restaurant there ordered food and let the other take care of checking in.
Shea and Jeannie had been there a day already and were planning a boat trip to Halong bay the next day so I decided to join them and get out of the crazy city. I packed up my small bag with two shirts a pair of shorts and my camera stuff and left my big bag in storrage at the hostel because we were going on a boat and I didnt want to have all of my stuff with me. I couldnt sleep because my mind was racing from all of the comotion and craziness from the days events and the action going on in Hanoi City. This is like no other place I have been in my life.

VIP Bus to Vientiene

2009-11-21T00:31:00.000-08:00

Day 25

The VIP bus was not so VIP. The seats were so small I had to sit sideways with my legs in the isle the whole ride. The ride took about 4 hrs and we arrived just after dark in Vientiene, the capital of Laos.

Got a tuk to the center of town and looked for accommodation. Got a dorm room which is the first dorm room we have stayed in this entire trip. All showered the grime from our bus journey away and went out for dinner. We found a very cool martini bar with happy hour and relaxed feeling high class sipping James Bond Martinis.

After we walked along the Mai Khong river checking out the frogs and shrimps in buckets that some street vendors had for sale. We sat at a rooftop lounge and looked out at the river enjoying the view and having great conversation with some other Americans we met in the market. After the bar we met some really cool people by a crape vendor and hung on the street joking and laughing for a while and exchanging emails.

Pool Day

2009-11-21T00:29:00.000-08:00

Day 24

Family guy bar for breakfast AGAIN (see a trend here?) and then off to a hotel that has a pool to use during the day. We all hung around playing Chris' ipod speakers and relaxing by the pool. We also met some more cool Aussie people by the pool and made plans to go out later for dinner that night.

The tubers from today had a contest at the river for best stunts and best wipe outs which were captured on camera and were to be voted on at a bar that night. We went to the bar and watched the ridiculous videos and voted for the ones that were the craziest. Our Canadian friend Rachelle won the best wipe out prize for going off a rope swing on another guys shoulders winning a free bucket.

Chris was in a very good mood tonight dancing and hugging every one in the bar, and I mean everyone. He must have told me he loved me like ten times this night.

We went to the Q-bar which was packed and everyone was dancing. A random guy got pushed off his stool on accident by another friend of his and split his head pretty bad. We got him outside and called a tuk tuk to get him to the hospital. His friend wanted to take him home and put him to bed which is a stupid idea because he had a cuncussion and was compleetly out of it so another girl and I made sure he went to the hospital. After this Kirk and I went over the river to the sunset bar and hung out in the hammocks. I am going to start calling Kirk Hudini beacause when he gets drunk at the end of the night he just up and dissapears leaving me at the bar wondering where he has wandered off to. Luckily he has a good homing device or something and always makes it back to his hotel safe. So after looking around and realizing he was gone I returned to the hotel and went to bed.

Caves

2009-11-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

Day 23

Chilled out at the family guy bar for breakfast and heard about the caves you can go to see close by so we decide to head out to see them. Mandy, Kirk, Debbie and I got a tractor tuk tuk from town 7km to the caves it was quite a ride through swamps and over some gnarly roads.

We got a guide and he gave us headlights and took us up the hill a 100ft and into the caves. They were slippery and dark so having a guide to show us where to walk was a good idea! He took us about an hour deep into the caves where it was pitch black and into huge rooms that were 50 ft wide and 25 ft tall! Some spaces we had to duck down and squeeze through entering all sorts of different sized caves with stalagmites and stalactites all over.

I was literally dripping sweat and after our spelunking in the caves there was a beautiful swimming at the bottom of the hill with deep blue water and a tree you could jump off into the cool water.

As we sat and relaxed I met a guy named Chris Taylor who had lived in Mendocino until he was 8 yrs old and went to the Green house School with me when I was in first and second grade! He moved away to Hawaii, and he also knew Jake Barefoot our good friend from Hawaii and a child hood friend of mine whom I had grown up with. I remembered his dad Ron Taylor who used to work in Mendocino at the Chevron gas station. It really makes you realize how small the world is.
Our ride back on the tuk tuk was crazy and the driver didnt slow up for anything almost nailing cows, dogs and even children. We returned and of course found Chris at the family guy bar where we joined him and relaxed until around 9. We went out to Bucket Bar and met up with the crazy Aussie guys who we met back in Pai, Thailand who were trashed from tubing all day and still going hard. We partied there for a while and ended up back at the Q-Bar where we met the Swiss Boys from Laung Prabang who were dancing and "cutting shapes". We finished the night at the Sunset bar across the river the only place still open until they finally closed as well.

Tubing Round 2

2009-11-20T23:25:00.000-08:00

Day 22

Spent the morning shopping travel agents for our flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. Our plan was to leave to Vientiane then fly to Vietnam the next day. Booked our tickets, chilled out and got ready for tubing. A 65 year old man was there and did one of the zip lines. The end of the line has a big spring to stop the handle but he did not let go in time, hitting the stopper at full speed making him do a violent full back flip landing on his face in the water. Chris and I stood mouths open thinking he was dead ready to jump in and save him. He emerged, swam back and seemed fine to our surprise where we all gave him high fives and the bar gave him a free rum buckets. He continued to party with us the whole rest of the day.

I talked with the old man "Frank" for a while after his crash and learned of his crazy life travel experiences. He had been traveling since he was 19 with basically just the money in his pocket and had been to almost every country in the world. Quite a cool guy with some great stories and experiences to share.

More mud wrestling, tug of war, mud volley ball, mud body painting and general chaos ensued.

Bruised and Battered

2009-11-20T23:15:00.002-08:00

Day 21

Got up early at 7:30am bruised and battered from the tubing the day before and not able to sleep anymore. Had breakfast and went across to the river side lounge to relax. Kirk and I were bruised up and comared our scars from the tubing extravaganza. We just laid there in pain for a few hours and tried not to move. Most of the day was spent like this in the shade trying to nurse ourself back to health.

In the afternoon I went and got a haircut at one of the coolest barber shops ive ever seen.

Joined everyone at the Family Guy Restaurant telling horror stories from tubing but still being psyched about the next days tubing.

I litterally spent the entire day at the Family Guy Bar and probably watched 2 full seasons and gorged myself with every kind of food on the menu to lazy and sore to even get up. As I layed there almost everyone I knew came by and hung out for a bit, ate then went on their way as other showed up.

Tubing Insanity

2009-11-20T23:05:00.000-08:00

Day 20

The egg, chicken, bacon baguette from the street vendors started our day off right. Our whole group got Ray Ban glasses in different florescent colors becoming Team Ray Ban. There is a sign by the tubes that says tubing alone supports 1500 families in the area. This is a very strange scene to have in the middle of Laos but we have been hearing about it since before we started our trip so we had to try it out. Got our tubes and all crammed into a tuk tuk and off to the river. They take you about a mile and a half up the river with your tubes where numerous bars line the river bank blaring loud techno music with crazy rope swings and zip lines shooting off of each bar with a unknown depth of water below.

We had heard stories of people seriously injuring themselves and dying recently so I watched others go off swings before I could warm up to them. Further down the river we stopped at a place with a volley ball court in the muddle of a huge mud pit being fed by a water hose. It was almost impossible to stand and I did a full front slide on my face into the mud.

At the 4th bar there was a huge water slide which I attempted and came out unskathed where as others in our group were not so lucky and ended up with huge bruises from the impact.

After this I tried as many swings as I could and had a blast. One of the guys did a absolutely huge back flip off the swings shown in the video below.

We did not end up finishing the float back to town as it was getting dark so we got off early and got a tuk back to our hotel. The day was seriously exhausting and fun and almost everyone was in bed by 8pm. The most fun day of the trip by far!

Off To Vang Vieng

2009-11-20T22:52:00.000-08:00

Day 19

The bus trip to Vang Vieng the famous tubing village was suppose to be 5 hours but of course took 8 because of the dilapidated roads of Lao. On the road. Sam Sung, Music and plenty of time to shoot the shit. Very cool scenery, beautiful mountains and river, everything being very green and lush.
Arrived in the Vang Vieng bus station and had to pile everyone into a tuk tuk to get into town. Dropped off our stuff and went out to the Q-bar with loud music and dancing. This was our first taste of this area's also famous rum buckets and red bull, enough said.

Monks In The Morning

2009-11-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Day 18

    Monks at 5:45am line the streets as gangs of old and young tourist crowd the block, camera's in hand snapping away. They stand in the middle of the street moving in front of one another trying to get shots with their only concern of what they can see and the pictures they can get. We stand and watch as groups of monks pass and the flash of cameras and excitement of the tourists makes this moment seem staged. The tuk tuk drivers show up with groups of old, white and fat tourists who stand around and gawk at the monks. The whole idea and respect of what they are doing seems lost and misunderstood to the foreigners as they swarm like hungry bee's looking for a shot with their high powered cameras and ridiculous tourist outfits.
    A group brought in by the tuk tuk drivers have joined the locals on the side of the street digging their pudgy hands into woven baskets filled with white rice that they bought from the locals trying to be a part of something that has nothing to do with them. I feel sick as I see their faces and foreign attire and stature as they actually look proud of their contribution of rice or bananas as they hand out to the monks as they walk by. This is a holy mission for the monks and a way of life for them but it feels like a tourist attraction today. The average daily wage is equivalent of just one of the Beer Loas we foreigners consume in mass quantity and we still complain about being ripped off for a dollar here or there.
    In this moment it truly makes me think about all of the confusion, drama and stress we inflict upon ourselves each day and the messed up values we place on some things in our world compared to their much more more simple way of life. They walk silent single file all dressed in their orange robes through the streets receiving ohms on their daily routine. Humble and dedicated to their mission only to be bombarded today by these crowds of people. I feel a connection to this simple and ancient way of life as they walk the streets receiving their only meal of the day from temple to temple.

I guess I am not completely awake yet but it feels wrong to me deep down to be just another stereotypical tourist standing on the street taking pictures of the monks. We return after not to long as I cannot stomach the scene and I try to fall back asleep but my mind races with thoughts and emotions.
Chris knocks on the door at 10:45am and I jump up, get dressed and am out the door in 5 minutes. We met the group of about 9 of us and got a tuk tuk to the waterfall near by. The tuk tuk had a exhaust leak and was horrible, making us nautious for the 30 minute ride.

After a short hike we reached the falls and the water was a brilliant turquoise blue and cascaded off the rocks all around. There was also a rope swing which I went off at least 10 times. Incredible Landscape!

Hiked up a little further and found a 100 foot waterfall that was breath taking. It looked like something out of Jurassic Park and was pretty unbelievable.

After the falls we all met up to watch the sunset atop Pussi Mountain at the temple. The sunset was amazing with a awesome panoramic view of the city and Mai Khong River.

We went out for food and spotted Jeannie and Shea on the street and told them to meet us at Utopia for dinner. Utopia was made from bamboo and had a epic view of the river and surrounding jungle. Hung out here for the night, had some good food and enjoyed each others company.

When the restraunt closed at 12 we headed to the bowling alley for another crazy night. We made it so if you missed all pins you had to do 10 push ups which made the game more interesting. Ended the night around 2:30am and got a tuk tuk back. When we got out of the tuk I noticed Kirk had only one sandle on and when I told him this he looked down said screw it and kicked the other one 20 feet down the road. This being his 4th pair of flip flops since we met him! I returned to the room and fell strait asleep.

Laung Prabang

2009-11-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

Day 17
Got up early and got a new hotel closer to the Mai Khong and the center of town. Laung Prabang is a very rustic, relaxed and old city with alot of charm and culture. Met back up with everyone from the bus and we sat by the river and had lunch, I had a salad which was the first real greens ive had all trip. Nothing like mama's garden but the best salad in a while.

Everyone was a little exhausted from our crazy shuttle trip the day before so we went our own way and I went back to the room for a nap. Made a plan to meet on top of pussi hill for sunset but lacking sleep and having AC and a nice bed I dident make it.

I joined everyone at the bottom of the hill and we walked up some very steep and old stone steps to the middle of the mountain where there was a great view of the city and surrounding area's. The sun was already pretty low in the sky and there were about 3000 more steps to the top so we decided to just hang out there for sunset.

We all went out to Lao Lao Garden later that evening for a do it yourself BBQ dinner, it is like the Lao Beni Hana because they bring you hot coals that sit in the center of the table and place a Wok on top to cook your own food. It was a very good meal, we all at family style and ate everything they provided. When we started dinner there were about 10 people at our table but by the time dinner was done it had turned into 20 or more people around our table drinking and laughing. There was quite the variety of people this night. South African, German, English, Dutch, Scottish, Irish, Swiss and American. Everyone was was having a great time and loud with excitement.

The bars and restaurants in this town all close at 11:30 so we all crammed into tuk tuks to the bowling alley, ya random. One tuk tuk made for 6 had 18 people with people hanging off the back and sides. The bowling alley was actually very nice and is the only place open after 12pm so we saw most of the travelers we had met prior in other cities. My first bowl was a perfect strike which was amazing to everyone but I think to me the most. I tried to teach some of the others who had never bowled before but it is not easily learned. Eva even threw the ball backwards at everyone on one throw. I took the win after we took over a hour to play just one game. Round 2 people started dropping like fly so we headed back to the hotel calling it a night.

Crossing Into Laos

2009-11-18T06:13:00.000-08:00

Day 16

    To start the day off we found that our travel agent had not sent the money to the guest who that arranged our visa and slow boat trip into Laos. It was a complete mess and they said that we would have to stay two more days until they got the money transferred from the travel agent in Pai. There was no way we were staying here any longer so after much arguing and aggravation we paid for the trip again hoping to get refunded from the travel agent later on.
    Finally got over the Mai Khong River into Laos and were fed a story about how terrible and uncomfortable the slow boat would be. They said the boat was packed with 100 people, the toilet overflows onto your feet, was 8 hours long per day and the place we stopped at had no electricity, was not safe and could be as much as 800 baht a room. We expected a pleasant trip from everyone whom we had talked to that had done this trip prior so this really popped our bubble. Every ones faces dropped as the man told this story. Of course he offered another option which was a mini bus strait to Lang Prabang. About 17 of us decided to do the mini bus option and we all dished out much more money for the bus which was suppose to be 7 hours.
    We were 8 deep in the small shuttle bus which took 12 hours instead of 7 because of the unfinished and extremely rough Lao roads. Laos is a beautiful country with very friendly people. This day turned out to be a great bonding experience with a group of Kiwi's who were on the bus with us and we became quick friends singing and laughing almost the whole way.

Chang Mai To Chang Khong

2009-11-18T05:51:00.000-08:00

Day 15
To the pool before breakfast before catching our bus to Chang Khong the border city between Thailand and Laos. We stopped at the bus station and picked up Eva and Mandy, two German girls who we had met in Pai a couple days earlier. I really enjoyed the ride because we had a really nice shuttle bus and I was sitting next to Eva who was traveling around the world in 9 months and have amazing stories to tell.
Stopped at the white temple which was purely a tourist attraction built to bring tourists into a area where there normally would be none. I think this because the designs and paintings were not traditional and nothing like any temple we had seen so far. The inside had crazy futuristic painting with missiles, guns, space ships and even characters like Spider Man, Bat Man and Neo from The Matrix. This temple was totally weird but interesting no doubt.

Because we were on a package tour into Laos we arrived at a very grimey guest house and before check in had to deal with our passports and Laos visa forms.
They gave a pretty simple dinner of rice and curry and we sat around the table with 20 other backpackers from all different places, Chris and I being the only Americans. After dinner we all went down the street searching for any night life, finding none so we all settled at a restaurant in the back by a playground and got to know each other.

Before going to bed I charged all my electronics and was just about to fall asleep when Chris suddenly sat up still asleep and started feeling the walls and saying "why are these shower curtains here". I reasured him he was fine and he was sleep walking but he insisted he was awake and told me "im fine im just trying to figure this out" quickly laying back down and going back to sleep. It was hilarious and I laughed myself to sleep.

Pai to Chang Mai

2009-11-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

Day 14
    Got up at 6:30am after both of us having intense dreams. I dreamed that the police were rounding up all the tourists in town and arrested. The main Detective that was a old British guy that was trying to black mail for money in order to not be arrested. Chris was also arrested only I could not get him out no matter how much I paid and he was going to be stuck in Thai prison for 6 years. This made my sleep very unrelaxing and I woke up stressed and uncomfortable. It was one of those dreams where you really feel like it was real and when you wake up it takes a while to realize that it was just a dream and everything is ok.
    Got out by 7am and hit the road. As we left town we realized we only had a quarter tank of diesel left and a long ways to go back to Chang Mai so for the first 60 km we were closely watching the gas gauge and scanning the road side for gas stations. Luckily I spotted a tiny shack where a scooter was getting gas so we turned around and got 200 baht worth of diesel from a makeshift gas pump out of a barrel in order to make it back.
    When we got into town we checked into the MD house where the Canadian girls we had met before we left to Pai were staying. They had a group and we joined them for dinner at a french restaurant having Patte, Steak and Wine.

After dinner a few of us headed o a Moi Thai Boxing match. This was quite a show. Within the first 10 minutes we saw two intense knock outs making us all jump to our feet. The whole atmosphere was very exciting and we got rowdy as the fights progressed. Ali and I got into a shouting matching yelling "your my boy blue" so for most rounds we rooted for the boxer in the blue trunks just so we could yell that. One of the fights they blind folded three boxers and put them in the ring together letting them go at it swinging wildly and randomly at each other. The ref would antagonize and push them into each other to keep the fight going and he even got punched in the face a few times.

After seeing this we all got into it much more betting on fights with random locals. Although intense it was a very exilerating and a new experience. After the fights we went to the rooftop lounge again until everyone from dinner showed up and we took off together roaming the streets. We bought lanterns which the locals use for the upcoming festival in which you place a lit candle inside which fills the lantern with hot air and makes it rise into the sky. This was very cool and is said to bring you good luck.

Pai Exploring

2009-11-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Day 13
Today we decided to take the truck around the surrounding areas and go exploring. Went to the ancient town and checked out a cool temple then continued through farmland looking for any interesting off-road trails off the main road.

We then went to a waterfall and watched the locals do crazy jumping and sliding off the rocks into ridiculously brown and shallow water. The chance to swim was very nice for us because we had only been in cities thus far.

We met another American guy named Deep at the falls learning about his trip which was coming to a end but was the same route we were on. He had very cool stories and we learned alot about how to go about the rest of our trip. After the waterfalls we explored more back roads and came across a pirranna farm which we chilled at for a bit. On our way back into Pai we came across two men in a back alley having a cock fight so we pulled over and watched for a while. This was a intense experience for both of us as we had never seen anything like it and the brutality of the sport made us both cringe. It was interesting to see how these two men arranged a simple fight with no spectators just for their own entertainment. It looked as though they let the cocks fight until one drew blood then separating them and wiping them down and inspecting their damage.

Hit some more trails by the river, almost got stuck and then returned to the hotel to hang out. I took a walk around town and found a basket court at a school, played with some kids and showed off dunking until I hurt my toe because I was playing with no shoes. Met some guys from England and we hung out on the back terrace on the river and watched the sunset before heading out on the town for the evening. Walked the street market eating from multible vendors and trying as many differnt things as we could. Found a travel agent and booked our bus and slow boat into Laos for two days later. We had to have the truck back by 11am tommorow so we packed up so that we were ready to leave by 7am.

Pai

2009-11-18T05:03:00.000-08:00

Day 12

Today we took it easy, Chris moved the truck closer to our hotel while I joined Jeannie for brunch. Met two Israli girls at lunch and had some interesting conversation about their required military service in their country. I left Jeanie to find Chris back at the hotel. We updated our blog for a while and as it got dark we went out for dinner in town. Chris went for a massage and I joined some English people after dinner for some cocktails. It was another great nigt, loving the social atmosphere and bonding made possible in such a foreign enviornment.

4x4's, Elephant's and near death driving experiences.

2009-10-27T02:20:00.001-07:00

Day 11
Packed everything up and were out by 10am to go pick up our rental truck. The day was filled with crazy adventures. First of all Chris had to adapt to driving on the other side of the road and shifting with his left hand.

It seems like just driving on the opposite side of the road wouldn't be that big of a deal but it totally throws off your driving concentration and I found myself going towards on coming traffic a few times when I let my guard down. Combine that with shifting a manual transmission with your left hand made the truck extremely awkward to drive and I had to be in 100 percent concentration all the time.

Once we got out of town and into less crazy traffic. We took Mea sae road which had all sorts of tours and shows that you could see. Our first stop was a park with ten waterfalls you could walk up so parked and took a trail to the falls. The water was very brown but the falls were beautiful. Chris and I not the biggest hikers made it to the seventh waterfall and turned around to head to another destination. Got back to the main road and stopped at the Mesa Elephant Camp and watched a elephant show. I was amazing it was probably the coolest thing ive ever seen. They did all sorts of tricks like playing the harmonica with their trunks, spinning hula hoops, kicking soccer balls and painting pictures. It was awesome! Each elephant had a Thai trainer and caretaker who seemed to all have a personal relationships with their elephant. Afterwards we really wanted to go off-roading so we took the first dirt trail we saw and zipped down a narrow jungle road looking for fun. Explored the country side and went where most tourist don't because only Chris would decided to go up a washed out muddy road with deadly cliffs on the side. Ended up in the middle of farming village and from the looks on the locals face I'm pretty sure we were the only white people they had seen in a while. Took pictures and enjoyed the freshness of the air compared to all the exhaust fumes that overtake you in most cities. Decided to head north towards Pai, a mountain village where Shea and Jeanie had gone by shuttle earlier that morning. The roads were insane, people passed whenever and where ever they want. Chris got the hang of driving quick but it was a very stressful drive passing on curves and trying not to run over motor bikes.

This was probably one of the most stressful drives ever for me. The road has 762 sharp curves and cars and bikes are passing on blind corners constantly. They seriously have a death wish and we saw so many close calls and had a few ourselves. There really is no lane divider and you just drive where ever on the road you can with no regard for anything. After a while I started to get more confident and made some pretty sketchy passes around huge trucks which could of easily ended in disaster.

After the driving insanity and the distance seeming much further then we expected we arrived in Pai exhausted and in serious need of showers and food. Parked at a temple, grabbed our bags and looked for lodging. Walked down the street still in a daze from the days events. With our luck we see our girls walking the street and were just as excited to see us as we were to see them. They led us back to the hotel they were at, we got a bungalow, showered and went out for dinner.
Bottle of rum, new backpacker friends and great times. A group of us went in search of a bar with live music and one girl Eva and I went in and started dancing. It was a while before we realized that the rest of our group we had walked with never even came into the bar after us but we did not care and had a great night. The music was not so good but we overtook the dance floor that was empty. The music ended and I walked her back to her hotel.
Sat in front and talked for quite a while about travel, life and our passions. It was late, I was super tired, drunk and at this point realized I had the key to the room and Chris may be stranded so I said good bye and tried to make my way back to the hotel. I was totally lost and went up and down the streets without a clue to where I was. I asked for directions but didn't know what hotel I was in so that did not help. I only had the room key with a C on it and that was not enough info to lead me home.
When I had almost given up hope I see in the distance Jeanie and Shea walking towards me, my angels of the night and they took me by my arms and led us back and off to bed. I really love those girls.

After Zev left with another group I met some a group of five guys from Australia and we headed out of town a bit to a bon fire I heard about. They told me about their trip here and it was crazy. They drove the same road up here as I did and hit two motor bikes making them crash. The police came and they had to pay each of them 10,000 baht for the damages. When they got into town one of them accidentally broke a awning on the street and it turned into a shouting battle with a local guy.
The police ended up arresting all of them and threw them in jail for the night, right before this one of them had left their backpack with all the passports at a restaurant as well. What a disaster. They were still in high spirits though and we had alot of fun just hanging out around the fire until I decided to turn in.

Sunday Street Market

2009-10-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

DAY 10

I didn't sleep much last night so when I got up I was still a little out of it. I got some pineapple from a street vendor and found a smoothie joint which was very rejuvenating. The whole crew was still asleep when I returned so I threw on my board shorts and took a swim in the pool to start the day. Chatted with our friend Claudia who was having breakfast in the front of the hotel and told her stories of the night before having a few laughs. Soon after everyone else showed up and went out to eat at Chit chi a little hole in the wall place which good food and prices.

All counties in South East Asia give you a visa when you arrive at the border but for Vietnam you have to send away for your visa in advance so Chris and I went to a travel agent to get our passports sent off preparing for our upcoming Vietnam visit.We shopped around for 4x4 trucks so we could explore the surrounding area's and of course get muddy. Tried to take a nap but couldn't sleep so instead we went to the pool and bumped katcha fire on the ipod speakers and goofed around. Got my laundry done, did some facebooking and the rest of the crew geared up for the Sunday Night Market.

Walked together to the market and then split up, the girls doing some shopping while Chris and I went strait for food. Our plan was to save our shopping for the end of the trip so we didn't have to carry around extra weight the rest of the trip. The Street Market was huge and super crowded. Tried as many dish's as we could stomach from all of the the different carts. The best by far was three spring rolls in a banana leaf with special sauce for only 10 baht. Cruised around the market more and tried a assortment of bugs and ant egg omelette's which actually were not bad. After a couple hours we were burnt out and tried to make our way out of the market which was not easy. As we left we bumped into two Canadian girls Andrea and Jamie who were also trying to find their way out. We got acquainted as we walked back towards the main strip and ended up going to the Rooftop Lounge for a beer together. Jeanie and Shea showed up for a bit but were leaving to Pai in the morning so they left early. The two girls energy was a good match for Chris and I and we got along well laughing and joking around. Decided to leave that bar and we all hopped in a tuk tuk to a strip club for some more laughs. It was quite a show and almost to much to handle as the girls were the worst dancers with no rhythm, skill or enthusiasm at all. It was quite comical though and the four of us could be heard laughing over the music. Took off shortly after to find some food and ended up at a late night burger shop. As we sat there, two Thai men and a three year old baby elephant came out of the shadows and we fed it bananas and took a bunch of pictures. We exchanged info with the girls and planned to meet up again another day calling it a night. When I got back to the room I turned on my ipod and typed the days events still fresh in my mind. Off to sleep for me, tomorrow 4x4 jungle mission and elephant tours.

Chang Mai

2009-10-27T01:28:00.001-07:00

DAY 9
Woke up on the train with about 3 hours to go since the train was delayed. I walked the train again and re introduced myself to people I had talked to the night before. Met lots of cool people and made plans to meet up later that night once we were all settled in. A woman told us about a nice hostel with a pool which is a big selling point for us so we hopped in a cab to check it out. Chris and I have had a craving for Mexican food since we arrived so we found a Mexican style restaurant and got burrito's which still kind of tasted like Thai food. I then took a swim in the pool and decided to walk around the city for a while. One hour turned to three because I was kind of lost. I bumped into a German couple I had met the night before on the train and the three of us tried to navigate our way back to the hostel which was not easy.We did eventually make it but but only before finding two more temples we had missed. In one temple there was a wax monk that looked so real to me I sat cross legged thai style and stared at the figure for a good 5 to 10 minutes. I had to ask another monk if it was alive or not because it looked so real.
Came back and got Chris and we went out to find the other people from the train at the Rooftop Reggae Bar. The Candian girls were already there and were deep into their bucket style mojitos. There was a great group of people there and we all hung out together cracking jokes and sharing stories. We walked the girls back to their hotel and then headed back to our room. About a block from our place we saw a disco that looked packed. Chris was done and called it a night so I made my way over solo, met new people, danced and had a great night.

Night Train to Chang Mai

2009-10-27T01:15:00.000-07:00

DAY 8
Chris and I took it easy today, got food and watched a movie in the lobby of the hotel while Jeanie and Shea took bikes around the city to more temples. We had some more of Sato's fabulous Pad Thai and said our good byes to the family before we left. Took some quick showers at the hotel then all got a tuk tuk to the train station for our overnight sleeper train to Chang Mai. We made quick friends on the train with a group of Canadian backpacker girls on our same car.
Almost everyone in our car was a backpacker, so Chris and I made our rounds meeting people in very high spirits. We met some American and started a dance party with Chris' ipod speakers in the middle of the train. A train police came up and took the speakers out of Chris' hands and started walking away with them. We had to go after him and take it back showing him we would turn it off with sign language. I continued to wander the train while most people had closed their curtains and gone to bed. I snapped pics of all my friends as they slept as well as other random people until I collapsed into my bottom bunk bed and slept like a baby the whole night.

Sato Fam

2009-10-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Day 7

Woke up around 9am with everyone laughing about my night time bed jumping in my sleep. It seems that we all switched beds at one point in the night except Shea. I was a little hungover and ready for some food in my belly. We went down and ordered from our new found Thai friends, Sato and family. Met a English couple and they sat down with us and we chatted about our plan for the day and future travels. We then returned to the hotel and booked a boat tour around the city. The river has been channeled into a moat around the city with all sorts of temples along the river bank.

Spent the afternoon just hanging out around the hotel and at 4pm us and about 8 other people from the hostel jump in the back of a truck and are taken down to the river where we get on a very long wooden boat with a makeshift motor out of a Isuzu trooper with a long propeller shaft out the back. It looked very hard to steer but the guy was a pro. The river was full of debris and there were many large cargo ships being dragged through the river by tug boats. We stopped at 3 temples along the way.

One stood out the most to me, it looked like something out of Indiana Jones. Not sure on the history but it was very impressive especially with the sun going down behind the ruins.

We made our way back around dark and got dropped off at the night market. There was tons of different kinds of food and trinkets being sold. Zev and I got a little bit of everything including sushi, pork, chicken and some really good shishkabobs. We walked back to the hostel after a while and I went to bed as I was still very tired from the night before while Zev went out on the town.

I hung out at the front desk area for a while and helped the owner of the hotel fix her website and type English for free iced coffee and free internet the rest of my stay. The rest of the crew was tired and I was not ready to call it a night so I joined some of the other backpackers for some drinks and live music at a bar. The English guy Allen rocked the guitar and we all had a wicked time singing, dancing and drinking. The bar closed around 12, so we hung outside finished our beers and walked back to the hotel. I stopped by Satos resturaunt and treid to have a conversation with his beautiful daughter for a bit until her older brother came home and shoved her inside actually hitting her not hard but forcefully making her go upstairs so I said goodnight.
The rest of the group decided they were not done drinking and while I stayed to chat with Phat, they went to the 711 for beer. I returned to the hotel took a shower to wash away the sticky residue that immeadiatly covers your body as soon as you step outside. I hopped into bed typing my days events and not quite tired yet but stoked in the new connections and cool people I had met that day. It seems that like mindedness of backpackers really brings a common euforia and excitmen to being in a new place and experiencing new things together. Another great day in Thailand, it just gets better every day! Big Z out

Bangkok to Autthaya

2009-10-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

DAY 6
The girls got up first and went for coffe and chia to jump start our day. Chris and I packed up our bags and dropped them at the front desk to eat. The girls knew of a resaurant that was pretty cheap and very tastie. We then went to a few travel agents to plan our next destination. We decided on heading north to Chaing Mai instead of south since the girls were just on the islands. We got train tickets to Ayutthaya which is on the way to Chang Mai and has about 50 temples and looks amazing from the pictures. Our train was at 2:30 so we picked up our bags and got a taxi to the train station.

It was due time to leave Bangkok and riding the train was a very cool experience. We were in second class seating and actually had alot of leg room allowing me to stretch out. It is a very humid day but not so hot due to the overcast that seems to have stayed with us for the past few days with occasional daily showers at noon. Off we went on our way north passing the city streets and entering into more green surroundings.

Fields of grassy water pools stretch out from each side of the train tracks. Birds dip and dive right on the waters surface up and down and in all directions. I stare off into the distance and let my thoughts drift off like the clouds in the sky and breath this moment in deep. The rain blankets certain spots along the horizon like a patchy quilt and rain drops dance and sparkle as they touch down.
After about an hour and half we get to our stop in Autthuya and sqeeze off the train with our backpacks. We stop in the center of the train station and look at our map. A man named Mr. Noi a tuk tuk driver and tour guide approaches us and tells us he will show us a cheap guest house to stay at. Jeanie who never takes the first off ignores him and holds her head high and says it is to much and we will find it ourselves. So we walk about a block to where we are shuttled into a hotel by a man on the street to check out a room which we end up not getting. As we leave Mr. Noi is waiting for us in his tuk tuk, we give in and get in the back and off we go into the city.

We stay at the PU house and get a great clean room for only 200 baht a person. We then take a walk around town, grab some beers, talk to some travelers and then pick up a bottle of rum and bring it to the family restraunt across from our hotel.

We all order the Pad Thai and it was amazing. The family is awesome, Sato the father cooks our meal and performs all sorts of tricks. We end up staying at this families house/restaurant having the time of our lives talking, learning thai, and gamble on a funny bowling game with three pins in the middle of the street. Chris starts dropping bahts like there hot and bowls till his fingers are bleeding, literally. Chris and I decide to get another bottle of rum to share with the men of the family. They play music and we dance and play with the little kids.

A man with a cart showed up later in the night with all sorts of fried bugs for sale. One of the Thai's traded him some rum for a bag of grasshoppers. We ripped off the heads and indulged.

All in all a amazing experience and wonderful time with the most friendly and welcoming Thai people so far on this trip. I stayed later then the rest of our crew and hung out with Sato who was pretty hammered after the 3 or 4 bottles of rum we had shared that night. He gives me a big hug while standing on a chair and tells me he will cook us whatever we want the next day. I agree say goodbye and head back to the room and we all laugh at the pictures and stories until we fall asleep.

Leaving Bangkok to Northern Thailand

2009-10-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

With Jeanie changing plans and coming to Bangkok instead, we got a room here and waited for them to arrive. Jeanie and Shea whom we met in Nicaragua last year showed up at our room at 5am bursting with energy after a 15 hour bus ride. We caught up with eachother and made tenative plans to leave the next day to somewhere. We went to bed at about 7am and got a few more hours of rest and then went into town to a great little breakfast place Jeanie had recomended. Our next stop was the travel agency and we booked our train ticket Ieutea (the monkey city) where we will stay for 2 nights and then take the night train on the 23rd to Chaing Mai for some jungle adventures!

Share Babay, Share

2009-10-20T01:29:00.000-07:00

DAY 5
So today we decided that we would make our move south to the islands and do what we do best, beach bum it. We got up and again I started laughing like crazy and speaking like Adam Sandler saying all sorts of dirty stuff that the Germans may or may not have understood. Chris and I used the Internet and tried to get ahold of our friend Jeanie who is on one of the islands in Southern Thailand that we are trying to meet up with. We talked to a couple travel agents and booked our overnight bus for 9pm tonight.
We then ventured out in hopes of finding authentic Thai breakfast, but speaking almost no Thai and not really knowing what all the crazy looking pots and stews contained, we ended up going in a full circle through the streets looking for a street vendor to meet our unknown hunger. Finally sat down at a old lady's stand and ordered fried rice with who knows what in it. I loaded up on the hot sauce and burnt myself pleasantly on the spicy peppers. Only 40 baht ($1.15) for both of our plates satisfied our hunger.
We then returned to the hostel, packed our stuff and left our bags at the front desk. We then relaxed by the pool for an hour or two and acted like little kids dunking the German girls and being strait silly. It began to rain so we left the pool just before a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning. With our bus tickets bought we went next door for lunch and shelter from the rain awaiting our 8pm pickup for the overnight bus which takes us to a boat at 7am to the islands.
We took an hour or two to update our blog and then i went to the pool while Chris got a massage. After that we hung around the hotel waiting our night bus! Around 630 we checked our facebook only to find out our friend Jeanie had done the same thing as us and booked a night buss here to Bankok and as it would turn out we would both be arriving opposite places at the same time!! Because we wanted to meet up with our friend we cancled our ticket loosing about 10 bucks and had to get a room for the night . So we stay another night awaiting Jeanies arrival in the morning! z out

Tuk Tuk Mania!

2009-10-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

DAY 4
We all woke up around the same time this morning and i proceeded to have my morning hysteria laughing about all the ridiculous stuff we had done the night before. We had some breakfast and used the internet to tell our family and friends we had arrived safe. After that we went back to the pool swam for a while, got dressed and then walked around the area of Khoa San road. For lunch we found a street vendor and had some of the best Pad Thai i had ever had. We walked around a bit more and all of a sudden we were at a main intersection when cops popped up at every corner and stopped all traffic to let the King of Thailand and his entourage of Mercedes Benz and motor cops pass. We then started talking to a man who explained it was the kings birthday and all tuk tuks got free petroleum for the day so it was much cheaper to get a ride. Chris and I in one tuk and the German girls in another tuk, took off to see Bangkok and its temples. We visited A 5 storey high golden Buddha, a few temples and around the outside of the grand palace.After the crazy tuk tuk driving and insane traffic we made our way back to Khoa San road to was off the grime and fumes of the city streets.
One thought, Bangkok is much cleaner than i expected it to be, not that it was immaculate but no where close to as dirty as Central America. I feel great and am so stoked to actually be here doing this trip!!

Airport to Khoa San Road!

2009-10-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

DAY 3
So we anticipated a grueling flight and unbearably hot weather and to our surprise the flight was quick because we slept almost the whole 14 hour trip and the patchy overcast kept it a pleasant temperature making our arrival in Bangkok smooth sailing. We got our bags and said goodbye to Katie at customs and got on the number 8 buss to Khoa San Road! Chris and I as outgoing as we are immediately spot two German girls get off the buss with us backpacks and all in the same mission as us to find a hostel. The first one we checked out was a small room and only one bed which was entirely to close for Chris and i after our 20 something hours of traveling. The next hostel we went to had 4 person rooms with two double beds, AC and a rooftop pool! We took the room with the German girls and dropped our stuff in the room and went straight to the pool to cool off.

We then all took a stroll around Bangkok streets for a few hours, ate some food and got a bottle of rum and returned to the room drank and played truth or dare on my itouch leading to some hilarious shenanigans. We were all still tired from traveling and now a little bit tipsy and crashed out calling it a night. Great first day in Thailand!!!

On the Plane!

2009-10-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

DAY 2
So we landed in Taipei at 7 am local time Sunday the 18th, meaning we lost a day in the time zone change.

As we exited the plane we looked up at all of the signs and realized we had no idea how to read Thai and where to go for our next flight!! There was a cute American girl standing next to us with the same puzzled look on her face. Chris and I introduced ourselves to her and we all aimlessly wandered around the airport for a bit until we found our gate! Katie was good company and we all talked and enjoyed the northern Cali vibe we all had. On our second flight Katie was seated two rows ahead of us so Chris and i pelted her with bits of paper for fun and then got the man next to us who spoke no English whatsoever to switch seats with her using hand gestures! We were in the middle row Chris on my left reading the Lonely Planet and Katie on my right studying her Macroeconomics textbook for Cabrillo college in Santa Cruz!!

We have about 4 more hours on the plane then land in Bangkok and head to Khoa San Road the famous tourist ghetto.

Lets Go

2009-10-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

It seems my summer will live on! From Traveling through Central America, 1st in Costa Rica and Nicaragua from 11/10/08--12/20/09 and then again throughout Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras from 1/20/09--5/10/09 and then my return to Mendocino to live for the summer 5/10/09--10/17/09.

It was one of the best Northern California Summers I have ever had. From the beach and river, to all of the amazing Reggae Festivals. Such as: Sierra Nevada Music Festival, Monterey Reggae Festival, Reggae Rising, Power 2 the Peaceful, Earthdance and Lovelution. Truely a summer a good vibes, positivity with great people and new friends.

The Birth of the Digital Guerillas (www.digitalguerillas.tv) on the 7/4/09 Mendocino Parade gave me new avenues and inspiration in persuing film and photography! Our network acquired backstage access to shows and concerts, my up close and personal view of artists and their music was unreal. Now my passions are photography and continuing my travels, which I intend on doing with one of my best friends, starting Saturday 1am 10/17/09--3/30/10 throughout South East Asia with nothing but our backpacks, board shorts, camera's and our very strict plan of no plan....

San Fransisco prepping to fly out to Bangkok

2009-10-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Zev and I are currently in South San Fransisco getting ready to fly out to Bangkok tomorrow 10/17 at 1am. We will be backpacking through Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Bali, Indonesia and where ever else we end up until April 2010. We both have been out traveling together on two prior trips to Latin America and for some reason it just works. Imagine being with someone 24 hours a day for months through hecktic situations and not wanting to kill eachother. Ya its pretty rare haha. First we traveled through Costa Rica and Nicaragua and came back to Cali only to embark on separate trips back to Central America a couple months later. Zev traveled by backpack and bus while I rode my Dirt Bike from CA planning to meet up somewhere along the way. www.superadventura.blogspot.com

(Pics from last trip)

I am so stoked to get over there, its going to be a whole new world compared to our prior travels through Latin America and I really dont know what to expect, which I love. If you think my spanish was bad wait till I try to speak Thai haha. Over and out...