Camrybodia

To my numerous blog fans, I apologize for the long gap between posts. I never seemed to find a solid block of time in Cambodia for posting (it takes a while with the slower computers and internet speeds). I have an hour here in Vietnam, so I'm going to post a small bit of Cambodia. My goal is to finish this post tonight when we arrive at our next city. We're moving pretty fast in Vietnam. Aaron got sick, so we lost a day.

Cambodia was great, but definitely 15-20 years behind Thailand in many ways. For example, the road from the border to Siem Reap is 170 miles of unpaved dirt road, and "Lonely Planet" says that an un-named airline is paying the corrupt Cambodian government to keep it that way. Bumpy may not be a strong enough word. The bus was full and barely air conditioned, and the trip took 6 hours.

Siem Reap is a short tuk-tuk ride away from the ancient city of Angkor, so that's where everyone stays when they come to see Angkor. Some of the roads are paved but there is still red dirt everywhere. Everyone's on motorbikes or in a Camry. I'm serious--Camrys are all over Cambodia, along with the occasional Honda CRV.

Angkor was at its peak I believe from the 9th-13th centuries. Angkor Wat is the main attraction and is being considered for the new "Seven Wonders of the World" list (they give you a ballot when you walk in with Angkor Wat already checked). Siem Reap actually means "Thailand kicked out." I'll just say they have a history and don't really like each other. Here are three measly pictures that really don't do it justice.

Other temple pictures around the city of Angkor (Can you spot me in this first one? Hint: bottom right):

I'm sorry but I have to run! Our bus leaves in two seconds. I'll post more tonight, which will be early in the morning for you. Bye!

Scuba Diving is Awesome

We weren't planning on it, but shortly after arriving on the island of Ko Tao, Aaron and I quickly discovered that there are two kinds of people there: those that dive and those that don't. To avoid being outcast as snorkeling geeks, we decided to pony up our 2000 baht (about $60) and take a one day scuba diving course.

We were fitted with wetsuits and flippers and taken to the pool for some practice. We met two nice guys in the process from Denmark, Jem (left) and Per.

It was very weird at first, exhaling and inhaling underwater, but I got used to it and couldn't wait to get out there. Per (peer) had more trouble adjusting and actually decided to quit. He, unfortunately, missed out on this:

It was really amazing flying around underwater. We got lucky, too, and saw a sea turtle. We stayed down about 35 minutes and were 12 meters deep. That was the depth limit for us since we're not certified. You can get certified out there, but it was like 12,000 baht and takes 4 days. Certification is something I think I would like to do someday now.

Jem, Per, Aaron, and I all left Ko Tao together the next day for Bangkok. On our way out I saw this sign and just have to post it here because it cracked me up:

I should send it to Jay Leno. I especially like the question mark at the end of "Buy 10.. Get 1.. Free?" as if he might give you one free...or he might not.

Jem and Per are flying out of Bangkok in a couple days, whereas Aaron and I stopping here to re-fuel for our trip to Cambodia tomorrow (the 22nd). Aaron and I showed them around Bangkok like old pros last night. I ordered fried rice in a pineapple. It was good but, as I should have expected, there was too much pineapple. The waitress made fun of me because for 3 seconds I couldn't figure out how to open it up.

We found the delicious morsels below at a street vendor. They are little fried crickets. Aaron, Jem, and this guy from Texas all had a few. I wouldn't if you paid me.

There is nothing weirder, by the way, than watching young Thai girls walk up and by sacks of big cooked cockroaches to eat. They came in packs of three. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: other cultures are retarded.

Jem and Per also wanted to check out the infamous red light district called Patpong (okay, I was curious too). It was not an enjoyable experience. We went into a bar and were surrounded by Thai prostitutes I had to fight off. They lied to us about how much a drink would cost. Two started giving Per and I shoulder massages, which we did not ask for. We ignored them and after a minute, they asked for money. When I refused to pay, she--no joke--threatened me with a toothpick! I stood by ground and she poked me in the arm with the toothpick. We made a hasty exit and I was poked once more from behind on the way out.

Today, we took Jem and Per to some Thai malls. Thais love to shop. These things are several stories tall, huge, and loud.

You can see some of the many escalators there. Most the stores are smaller than American stores, some more like booths. The lighting was dark and moody on the fifth floor.

Some cigarette boxes have pictures instead of warnings.

I like the idea. Most Thais seem to be very against smoking. I've seen a Thai person smoking maybe two or three times since I've been here. Europeans, however, still smoke like chimneys.

At the cinema in this mall, they have a waiting area with rows of chairs in front of concessions. Seats are always assigned when you buy them in Thailand theaters, so I guess this gives you the option of waiting outside the theater if you like.

We saw Fantastic Four 2. I'm sorry to tell you this Dave, but it sucked...again.

Jem, Per, Aaron, and I are going to the bus station together tomorrow morning. They're going to Lopburi to check out the monkeys, upon our suggestion, and we're heading to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the town near the famous temples of Ang Kor Wat. We'll spend a few days there and then head to Pnomh Penh, the capitol.

Thus closes the chapter on Thailand for this trip. I feel like we accomplished a lot: about 10 cities, some trekking, bungee jumping, and now scuba diving. I'm kinda sad but ready to move on. I took my first Malaria pill tonight. Let's hope that starts kicking in soon, ey?

P.S. Sorry for the formatting issues with this post and others. Blogger is a headache to use when you're adding multiple pictures. It has major bugs and costs me at least a half hour each post.

Bottle Beached

Well, the Black Moon Party in Ko Phangan was fun, but just like a big club on the beach. Thumping music and lots of people, but I wouldn't say I had an especially amazing time. I made the mistake of taking off my sandals and never found them again. Mark and Alison (the nice English couple we've become good friends with) left after 5 minutes because Mark got sick. Aaron and I got separated at some point, and when I got back to our place (after being ripped off by the motorbike driver that took me...grr), he was nowhere to be found. Guess who had the room key?


I tried breaking in without damaging property, but failed miserably (I would be a terrible thief). I woke up a guy I thought was the manager, but he had a hard time understanding my situation and was no help. Finally, I scooped up one of the six puppies lounging near reception to keep me company, who I named Cliff, and we sat outside waiting for Aaron.

He finally showed up after about 45 minutes, and I brought the puppy in to sleep next to me (I'd had a couple drinks okay?). Cliff didn't pee or poop or anything--he was great.


Mark and Alison met us for lunch at our bungalow's restaurant. I was feeling pretty good but tired. Mark and Alison weren't doing so hot. Aaron was so-so. We decided to all recover together at the secluded Bottle Beach, a place I'd been wanting to check out for months now. We took a small longtail boat to the north of the island and were not disappointed.



There are only 4 bungalow "resorts" on Bottle Beach because it's so small, and three of them--Bottle Beach 1, Bottle Beach 2, and Bottle Beach 3--are owned by the same family. They're very creative with the names out here. The four of us got matching bungalows right next to each other, right on the beach, for a whopping 650 Baht/night or $10/person/night. That's Mark talking to Aaron at our bungalow.


There is no A/C on this side of the island because of the cost of electricity, so it got a little uncomfortable at night for sleeping. We were willing to make the sacrifice though. Check out our view:



We stayed here for 3 days, 2 nights and had an amazing and relaxing time. We played frisbee, swam, and drank banana smoothies in the day (SO GOOD! Erik, if you're reading this, I had a PB & Banana shake for you, too). At night, we watched the new Bond movie "Casino Royale" at Bottle Beach 3's restaurant and, at our request, "Blades of Glory" the next night.
We also played a lot of cards. I taught them Spot which was a big hit, a game my family knows. I would guess there were maybe 60 people staying at this beach total, but it felt like 20.

We left Mark and Allison at Bottle Beach this morning and made it to our last island, Ko Tao.

We'll spend two nights here, then head back to Bangkok for a night, and then on to Cambodia.
Ko Tao is known for having some of the best diving in the world. In fact, in the high tourist season, some places won't let you stay there unless you're going diving. Neither Aaron nor I have been diving before, but we figured, "when in Rome..." so we signed up for a one day lesson/40 min. dive tomorrow. We'll be training in this pool like these guys:

We'll be going no more than 12 meters deep since we're not certified, but it should still be fun. They say we might see a whale shark (they're harmless). We had dinner at our hostel about 3 hours ago, so this picture is hot off the presses. Aaron is silhouetted in the bottom left. The sunset was non-existent because of the clouds unfortunately.



Thanks for checking out the blog! Next time I post will be either the 19th when I'm in Bangkok or sometime in Cambodia after that. Hope you're all having a great summer!

Island Hopping

We had a couple days left in Chiang Mai after bungee jumping. We decided to go see another Muay Thai boxing match (we saw one a few days earlier). It's basically like kickboxing--they can punch, kick, or knee each other. Most of the matches we saw were teenagers. We also saw two female matches. This night we lost $30 betting on four different fights with these old, kinda shady Thai men.


The next day we took a Thai cooking course with the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. This is the same place Becky and Mario (my sister and bro-in-law) took a 3 day course. We just did one day and cooked six courses including Pad Thai wrapped in a fried egg and Green Curry. My apron was on backwards the whole time, and I didn't notice until the end.





Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. On our way home later that night we found a frog. I'm on the right, Dad.
We said goodbye to Chiang Mai after a full week there. I have a lot more pictures and stories but don't have time to share them all here. With 10 days left in Thailand we decided it was time to head south to the islands. We flew to Phuket from Chiang Mai to save a day of buses and/or trains. Phuket, as you know, was where the 2004 tsunami killed thousands of people. Well, it has recovered and is as gross as ever. The part we went to, Patong, might be described as the seedier Thai version of Vegas. Thai hookers and "lady boys" abound, as do clubs, bars, and tour booths.





In stark contrast to the craziness behind me, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets I'd ever seen.

We got out of there as fast as we could the next day and went to beautiful Ko Phi Phi (ko pee pee). It's a small island with a few different beaches on it.






We stayed at Long Beach or Hat Yao. We're in the low tourism season so the beach was not very crowded at all. It was very relaxing with amazing clear, warm water to swim in.


Beauty doesn't come cheap however. Our air conditioned bungalow here was a whopping 1,000 Baht/night. We hadn't spent that much since Bangkok. That's $30 US, or $15/person.



I made the mistake of ordering pasta the night before. I'm pretty sure the tomato sauce was just ketchup. I played it safe and ordered some Pad Thai the next day. It was tasty.

We only stayed one night and the morning of the day we left, we paid a local guy to take us on a private 3 hour longtail boat ride around Ko Phi Phi Leh. This is where the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo Di Caprio was filmed. We got up at 7am to make sure we beat the horde of large tourist boats that start to flood the area around 9 or 10. The water was beautiful and clear. "The Beach" is enclosed by large green cliffs and really makes you feel like you washed up on a secluded island in the middle of nowhere.

We got only about 20 minutes to ourselves before we saw the tourist armada on the horizon, but it a valuable 20 minutes. The beach got filled up quickly, so after another 20 minutes of swimming, we left our paradise for a quick stop on Monkey Island (more of a beach, really).

The tourists not having fed them yet, they were slightly more aggressive than our friends in Lopburi. They kind of growled at us and grabbed my arm once wanting food. It was a little scary. This guy was cool though.

After Ko Phi Phi, we stopped in Krabi for a night. The nice English couple we met on our trek in Chiang Mai, Mark and Alison, happened to be staying in the same guesthouse as us. Their "Rough Guide" and our "Lonely Planet" both suggested it. We played pool with them that night and made plans to meet up where we are now--Ko Phangan (ko pawn gone).

This is the party island and has a similar vibe to Phuket, but mostly young people and not as big. There's one narrow road lined with restaurants, bars, and guesthouses.

It's a short hop to the beach, where Aaron and I got a drink and watched people play with fire.

This is the line of booths on the beach, all with someone literally begging to sell you alcohol as you walk by.

Tonight is the Black Moon Party, so we're hoping there will be more people. There is a party for every phase of the moon here, the Full Moon Party being the huge, all night, 12,000 person party. We missed it by a couple weeks, but the Black Moon should still be fun. We're going to meet up with Mark and Alison for it in a few hours.

Sorry for the huge blog, but there was a lot to cover and I haven't had much time in the last few days.

Hope you're all doing well. Blog to you later...