Hong Kong, China

December 16th and 17th

I flew from Krabi airport to Bangkok to Hong Kong in a whirlwind day of airports. Then I had one night and one day to spend in downtown Hong Kong. I took the ferry across the harbour and went to Victoria Peak which overlooks Hong Kong and the harbour and is the highest point. My hostel was in a great location downtown and near the famous night market where I bought Kade and Madison's Christmas presents. The hostel was $34 for a bed which is very expensive but luckily I had a room by myself even though there were 2 other bunks in the room.

Ao Nang Beach and surrounding beaches

Saturday, December 14, 2008

I took the bus from Krabi to Ao Nang Beach and the surrounding beaches for the day.

Krabi

Friday December 12, 2008

Today I go to Krabi after 27 days on Koh Lanta. 3 days in Krabi and then the overnight bus to Bangkok to catch my flight to Hong Kong. Krabi is know for its excellent rock climbing though I will not be participating at least for this trip.

Diving on Koh Haa

Wednesday December 10, 2008

Finally got a chance to go diving. I did two dives on Koh Haa which means the five islands. But as the dive instructor told us they are actually six islands. Only one island has a small beach and most of the island are large, tall rocks which protrude out of the Adaman Sea. The diving was really good. We only went to about 17 meters deep and the visibility was excellent. We saw almost every type of fish possible, beautiful coral walls and an octopus running along the coral to escape the approaching divers. On my second dive I stayed down for 61 minutes which is a personal best for me since I used to breathe too quickly but finally have slowed my breathing way down.

Thanksgiving in Koh Lanta, Thailand

Thursday November 27, 2008

Another Thanksgiving without family and turkey. It seems like the best travel times to visit the places I want to see involve November. For my Thanksgiving meal I splurged and went to the beach for BBQ. BBQ on the beach is grilled red snapper, sea bass and giant prawns. The baked potato that accompanied it made it feel a little more like home. A few great emails from family and friends made it not as bad as usual.

Only a few more weeks and I will be headed home. I fly out of Bangkok to Hong Kong on Dec. 14Th for 4 days (hopefully) . I leave Hong Kong on Dec. 17Th and hopefully will be in Monterey on the 18Th.

With the Bangkok airports haven been taken over I am glad that I still have 2 weeks to plan my way to Hong Kong. Unfortunately I bought my ticket from Bangkok to Hong Kong 3 months ago but everyone seems to think the protest will end soon one way or the other.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

Koh Lanta

November 15, 2008

I arrived in Koh Lanta today after a ferry ride, taxi ride, bus ride and minivan ride. Luckily I ran into several girls from Sweden who were studying in Koh Lanta and told me there was an opening at their guesthouse. The normal price for the room with air con, cable tv, refrigerator, hot water bathroom and balcony is $30 per night but if I paid for a month it was only $10 a night. With one month left I decided to make my stand here for the remainder of my time in Thailand. I prepaid for the month and headed to the beach. The beach is one of the best beaches that I have ever visited. The water is clear and beautiful and is chest deep only 4 ft from the beach. There are several beach bars and restaurants to watch the incredible sunsets and the restaurants have nightly BBQ's which include red snapper, sea bass , prawns and squid with a baked potato and salad for only about $15. That will probably be my Thanksgiving dinner.

Probably won't blog too much unless something exciting happens. I usually go to the beach early in the morning and go back to the room and watch movies until the hottest time of the day passes. Then back to the beach in the late afternoon. It will be interesting to see how one month of quiet beach time will be but who knows maybe something exciting will happen.

I leave Bangkok on December 14Th and fly to Hong Kong for 3 days and then back home.

Palau Langkawi (Malaysia)

Thursday November 13, 2008

I took the fast boat to the island of Palau Langkawi which is about 2.5 hrs from Georgetown. The island is beautiful but the beaches are nowhere near the quality of Thailand's beaches. Also, there are essentially almost no waves. It seems like a lake but the sand is pure white and the Andaman Sea is a beautiful turquoise. I will try and post pictures soon. Saturday I will be able to return to Thailand where I will go to the island of Koh Lanta. At this point I will not have to leave Thailand again until I fly from Bangkok to Hong Kong for 3 days before returning to the US.