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| Still finding time to hit the rocks |
Early to rise we joined 10 others from our hostel in a small van en route to the bus "area." Less of a station and more of a field but whatever works. We met a British guy who had been teaching English in Krabi to young orphan monk boys. Its a pretty cool system. The boys are taken into the Buddhist monastery, educated and taught English, and at age 18 can choose to continue with the Buddhist monastery or use the education they received in another profession.
The bus ride was cool but our first experience with Thai bus sizes, which mean no leg room whatsoever. Anyhow, we got to the port and I got the pleasure of beginning to read Congo. Bad book =bad movie. R.I.P. Micheal Crichton. We boated to Koh Pha Ngan and had a night to relax before the following evening's promised insanity at the November Full Moon Party. The boat to the islands was full of nothing but travelers arriving with them same intention.
It was the monsoon season so to speak for the Eastern side of
Thailand and especially the islands. This rainy season only last about
two weeks on average but as it happens we were there for it.
We stayed at a nice lodge away from the actual party by way of suggestion to increase the odds of keeping one's sanity. The place was perfectly situated on rocks next to the ocean and promised a wondrous sunset if only the rain would break.
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| The rain broke |
Our preparation for the Full Moon Party was simple. Buy clothes you wont want to keep that are garish and fluorescent. Dressed to the nines and pre partied we headed to a gathering of over 30,000 revelers on a mile long beach. It was studded with bars like spokes on a wheel that extend to the water and convey SEX, SEX, SEX, DRUGS, and PARTY!!!!! It was a little overwhelming. You cannot fight the flow of people down towards the water which itself is littered with drunken souls peeing in knee deep pee. With every crashing wave come 10 sandals lost in the fray and that is no exaggeration. Everyone has buckets of booze and are tripping on something but the most entertaining part is just walking up and down this strip of raw humanity. The stink of sweat and urine was thick and accompanied the smoke of spinning poi and a huge structure that spelled out "Full Moon Koh Pha Ngan" engulfed in flames. Around 4am the monsoon opened up and a downpour doused the flames but not the spirits. The music was turned up and the paint washed off but the party went on. We had all of this accounted for and went home via tuk-tuk around 6am and slept half the next day. It was worth it though. That party is the stuff of legends.
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| Pre-party attire |
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| Madness! |
We also found time for some scootin' and hiking on the island.
Our next move was to take the ferry to Koh Samui to await one of my best buddies from home, Phil! He was my roommate just after Kelly and I started dating in San Luis Obispo and was one of my first friends in Placerville after I moved there to finish High School. Besides Tijuana (and who remembers that), Phil hadn't really left the country by his own volition but our intention was to get him hooked on travel and for him to take a much needed vacation. We had been planning his arrival for some time and were stoked to finally have him only days away. The next 15 days were epic.
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| Chang Bang |
He got to hold a monkey.
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| When a guy offers you a monkey you accept. This is the cutest animal on the face of the earth. So soft, so cuddly. Delicate little monkey fingers latch around your neck in a sweet embrace. |
We took a fantastic scooter ride over a mountain range in the center of the island.
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| Buffalo watering |
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| Scooter duder |
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| See the name of the blog |
We all had to meet in Koh Samui because it had an airport. Koh Samui is kind of played out for the younger crowd and we didn't have time to dally. We took a ferry to Koh Tao. It was time to dive.
Phil has never been diving before so we got him set up for and intro course while Kelly and I went out to a sight known for its Whale Sharks! I cannot tell you how stoked I have been for the run up to this dive. The largest thing we've seen so far in our limited experience were Manta Rays. The whale shark would obviously dwarf all comers so I was amped. Of course when it comes to the fair creature of the deep nothing is certain, but the season and conditions were correct. When we arrived to our dive sight the place was teeming with other divers and company boats. There had to have been 100 other people diving there so that sucked but otherwise we were ready to see what we could see. I had Phil's Go-Pro camera too so in case of anything cool I was prepared to capture some shots. As it turns out, the very moment we began our descent the dive master motioned for our group to hurry across to another area for what was in fact a whale shark that most other divers at the time were gawking at, but by the time we flippered there it had alreadybswam gracefully away from view. The sight was otherwise pretty cool and we did see some large copia which are pretty much like sharks. The second sight we dove that day was of wreckage of a WWII cruiser with two large deck-mounted guns. Also pretty cool.
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| Another Awesome Sunset |
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| Hi I am the giant gecko outside Kelly and Andy's room every night. Yes, I am about 10 inches long, thanks for noticing. Oh and yeah, you should be worried I may eat you. |
Besides diving there was reportedly some great rock jumping to do so we rented scooters and had a blast navigating the island's pockmarked dirt roads. Phil had one or two spills that cost him a pretty penny once we returned our rented steeds but having gone down twice without injury is worth paying for repairs. We managed to find some postcard scene beaches and a day's worth of adventure regardless of minor mishaps so I say we all won that day.
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| Phil, upset. He doesn't want to leave. |
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| We even ran into our great Spanish friend Lucas from our Lima adventure. He has finished his work with the embassy and is now world traveling with his girlfriend Sylvia. You may recognize him from pizzas made on the other side of the earth. |
The king of Thailand is revered and held on high by all Thai people, so when his birthday rolled around everybody wanted to celebrate. This is an interesting situation. His likeness is plastered everywhere and he is quite old now too so you see monuments to him that span all eras of his life. If you go to see a movie, before it starts you have to stand during the national anthem while a montage of photos show him exploring villages and helping his people throughout his entire life. He is usually dressed in modest attire with a pen and paper in hand and a camera around his neck to record what he sees. The montage is presented slowly and played for all to see how great a guy he is.
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| The King, kinging |
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After Koh Tao we had a long bus to Bangkok. This was Phil's first shitty long bus ride and I don't think he will be taking another any time soon. Compared to South American buses, the long trips in these seem so much more cramped. The gaudy pink lace curtains, sun bleached and stained over time combined with the half a seat belt that does more to keep your arm rest in tact that your person make for fine bedfellows with the obscenely loud Thai crooning coming over the speakers. These trips are an experience all their own, without which some sense of authenticity would be missing.
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| Royal Palace and temple complex in Bangkok |
Bangkok
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| Royal Palace and temple complex in Bangkok |
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| Royal Palace and temple complex in Bangkok |
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| Royal Palace and temple complex in Bangkok |
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| Royal Palace and temple complex in Bangkok |
Bangkok is large. There is a lot of construction and a lot of noise. We stayed at a pretty snazzy flashpacker hostel where we made some more friends to hang out and get to know the city with. One guy in particular stood out to me. Trevor is a professional caddy for a golfer on the European Tour who stays for the most part in hostel while his boss -the golfer- stays in hotels. We convinced him on a Friday night to join us on Koh San Road, the party place, to see some nightlife and he obliged. A super nice dude, Trevor is South African and lives on the road for the season, bouncing from city to city for tourney after tourney. He showed us pictures of him with Tiger Woods and Rory McElroy amongst other pros. Oh and he also bought me and Phil a scorpion to eat. The streets are covered with vendors of all types so of course some of them are selling bugs. This particular scorpion was fried and tasted alright. They spray soy sauce and pour salt on them too so they just taste salty.
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| Always time to reflect |
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| SCORPION |
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| Pig out |
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| Kelly always finds time for Christmas. Phil is not amused. |
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| Phil is amused. |
Beyond more odd food, Bangkok is another big city and we did our best to take it all in.
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| Koh San Road |
To depart Bangkok we booked three passages for the overnight train to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. This is supposed to be where one need go to see more traditional Thailand, or closer to it anyhow. Here you are nearer to the famed hill tribes with the women who stretch their necks with rings. Also it is very near the Golden Triangle where most of the world's opium production once called home.
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| Phil and I got the top bunks on the sleeper train. |
The train ride was a singular experience. One that I would not rush to have again. I learned that seasickness is also available via rails. By the time we disembarked, all three of us couldn't quite get our equilibrium right. That was the bad part though because seeing a countryside by rail is quite nice.
The guy who owned the hostel we were staying at was a very well spoken young Thai man. Noom has the best English of any of the Thai people I have met, so he was very capable and willing to share his information and customs of his country and more importantly the best Kow Soy around. Kow soy is my favorite food. Generally an afternoon dish, this yellow curried stew cooks all morning with chunks of chicken or pork and some delightful amalgamation of spices and coconut milk that creates a thick broth teeming with jabs, hooks, and uppercuts for your palate to absorb. Usually topped with wonton strips and accompanied by a plate of sliced red onion, a dish of ground and oiled mouse-shit chilis (actual name), squeezable limes, and pickled cabbage, this is not a meal to be taken lightly nor is it one to be missed. In San Luis Obispo, there is a restaurant called Thai Palace that makes a really delightful version and I was interested to find out how authentic it was compared to the real thing. The answer is VERY. At home this will set you back around $13 for a bowl, but here one bowl was 30 Baht, or about $1. I had several!
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| Mouse-shit chillies |
Another draw for Chaing Mai was its many cooking schools. All being big fans of Thai food, we three semi-capable chefs decided to try our hands in a kitchen. The course we took was 4 hours and featured 4 dishes. You set you own menu and they prep your station. You then receive easy step by step instructions that allow you to mimic some of the best dishes in Thailand. Between the three of us we pretty much made every dish on the menu and all were delish.
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| A visit to the market for fresh ingredients |
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| Success with cashew nut chicken |
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| Green curry getting pasted |
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| Beautiful Kelly, Beautiful phad thai |
The timing worked out for our stay in Chiang Mai to coincide with the annual reggae festival held there. Phil and I attended and swayed around for a couple of hours enjoying mediocre covers, pasable atmosphere and some very legitimate Thai reggae originals. The main event though was when we decided to grab a bite to eat from a food stall around the border of the venue only to discover this:
The sign said it was young cow, the lady working the stand said it was goat, but I will eat my hat if that isnt a dog. Not bad though.
One last thing Phil wanted to see in person was some traditional Muay Thai fighting. You can find it in one of three stadiums in the city on any given night. There were about 7 fights plus a fun intermission that changes from day to day. We were treated to a four man blindfolded fight where the referee took the brunt of the beatings. Otherwise Phil found out the hard way that the fix is in for most of these fights and lost 6 bucks to me on sheer luck of the pick.
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