China and Southeast Asia 2008

Phuket, Thailand

2008-10-22T04:20:00.000-07:00

Wednesday October 22, 2008

After a brief couple of days in Bangkok to get new visa pages in my passport, I finally arrived in Phuket which is the No. 1 tourism area in Thailand. On my way to the 5 am bus this morning I encountered what I think was a big rottweiler which somehow got out of the fence which enclosed it. Dogs have been a problem more than once on this trip and within a second my backpack was off my back and being used as a medieval hammer from Conan the Barbarian. I slowly crossed the sidewalk and the transformer above the dog exploded and sparks went everywhere. Somehow I felt a little relieved that the dog had made me change my direction, but not too much. The dog went his way and I went mine. 7 hrs later I am in Phuket hoping for a little peace and quiet.

The picture is of the "flophouse" hotel where Leonardo Di Caprio stays in the movie "The Beach". I looked at the rooms there and decided to stay at a more update hostel.

Karon Beach to Phuket Town

2008-11-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

November 8, 2008

After 15 days I finally made the decision to move on to Koh Phangan, an island on the other coast, to go to the "full moon party" on the 12th. It was hard to leave because Karon Beach was incredible mainly due to Jerry and Annie who entertained me. I watched the women play in an International Volleyball tournament on the beach. Jerry introduced me to the Boost Bar when I arrived by convincing me to drink a "red devil" which is a shot composed of half tobasco and half vodka. The next night he convinced me to snort tequila through my nose with a straw. I hope it doesn't end up on youtube because there was a video. Then there was the "drinking game" with 6 shot glasses and dice which has downed more than one backpacker. I heard from a former NY attorney who now teaches in Thailand that I could teach law at a university by just showing my law degree. No knowlege of the thai language is required, just a short prep class. I have great interest in me and I will check into in later. I met many people that are from other countries who now spend most of time in Thailand. The people here are great.

Slow boat for 2 days to Thailand

2008-10-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 4, 2008

Took the slow boat up the Mekong River to Thailand. The current was really strong and the boat kept switching sides of the river to find the least amount of current. There were only 5 tourist on the boat going upstream while boats going downstream were loaded with tourists. Seems we were doing the route counterclockwise. Better for us. After 9 hrs on the boat the first day we stopped in a small village and spent the night. The river is full of rocks in the middle and you do not want to be traveling on it at night. The next day was 8 hrs but it is a slow peaceful journey and you can watch the many people fishing on the banks of the river with nets. Arrive in Huay Xai which is till on the Lao side at 6 pm just 30 minutes after the ferry to Thailand closes. Seems to be timed that away. So another night in Lao.

Phi Phi Islands

2008-10-23T03:22:00.001-07:00

Thursday October 23, 2008

Today was my second splurge when I spent $60 on a day trip to the Phi Phi Islands which are known as incredibly beautiful and location to Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Beach". The trip is normally $90 for the speed boat to the islands and food and drink but I was able to secure a large discount with a little persuasion. lol I quickly boarded the large speed boat which holds 40 passengers and secured a seat in the front so I could see the islands as we approached. Great idea, as long as it doesn't rain. It rained for about 1.5 hrs on the way to the islands and on the first beach. But the eight of us in front just laughed after a while because you can only get so wet.

The first island was Phi Phi Lae Island which was the location for "The Beach". I am not sure how well the pictures will turn out because it was raining pretty hard when we were there. The island is a National Park and has no tourist accomodations or businesses, just beach. We were there only 35 minutes and I would have liked to have stayed longer and visited the hidden cove which was also in the movie. The next beach we visited was Monkey Island and there were monkeys everywhere on the beach. Probably 40-50 monkeys being feed fruit by the tourists. One monkey, with gnashing teeth, chased a tourist into the ocean. The guide said monkeys will occassionally bite when provoked. We witnessed several serious monkey brawls. lol We next went to a beach for some fantastic snorkeling with great visibility and a large variety of fish.

We next went to Phi Phi Don which has about 700 inhabitants and very little inexpensive accomodations. We had a large buffet lunch which was part of the tour and then spent an hour on the beach. One more island stop to lay on the beach again for an hour and back home.

Will make some financial sacrifices over the next week to justify the expense but it was a very good day.

Karon Beach

2008-10-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

I just moved from Phuket town to Karon Beach for 7-10 days just to finally rest up from traveling and hopefully not spend much money. I got lost looking for the one hostel on the beach and luckily a bar owner told me of a hostel that was opening up today and that I would be her first client. The room only has 3 beds compared to the 10 bed dorm I was looking for and is only $4.50 a night. I have the room to myself and hopefully it will stay that away. lol The room is only 1 minute from the beach so I hope to get a little sun. Moonsoon season ends at the end of October. It has been raining most of the day today but hopefully things will clear. May not hear much on blog since there will not be anything to blog about until I move next.

Stupidity Rears It's Ugly Head (Koh Phangan)

2008-11-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday and Monday

I decided to leave Phuket to go to the other coast and island of Koh Phangan for the "full moon party" on the 12Th. Just about the time I think I am getting a good handle on traveling I do something stupid. I caught the 7 hr bus from Phuket to the ferry which is another 4-5 hrs to the island. When I arrived it started to rain and the rain has not stopped for 2 days. With the full moon party only 2 days away I decided to check the weather on Koh Phangan via the Internet (which is something I should have done before traveling 12 hrs to the other coast). The forecast was 100 % rain for the next 5 days. With room prices double for the party and rain assured for 5 more days I quickly decided that Malaysia was the place for me. After talking to a few local I found out that the west coast of Thailand has monsoon season until the 1st of November and then beautiful weather while the east coast monsoon season starts around the 1st of November.

But I did meet a beautiful, Brazilian girl on the sleeper ferry and we had some great conversations about travel and I expressed my great desire to visit Chile, Argentina, Antarctica and Brazil next year. Her name was Tatiana.

Then almost like a gift from heaven, I am sitting next to another beautiful girl, Maria, from Chile who also happened to be on the sleeper ferry but I did not see when she came in. We talked while riding in the minibus for hours about everything and it was one of the highlights of my trip. It was almost like fate because at the Malaysian border I was transferred to a different minibus and said bye to Maria. But then there was a problem with that bus and I was sent by motorbike to catch another minibus. As I climbed into the back seat, the first person I saw was Maria who moved over and asked what I was doing back again.

Not often do you meet two beautiful girls from South America who were living in New Zealand and Australia respectively while you are visiting Thailand.

Georgetown, Malaysia

2008-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Tuesday November 11, 2008

I just arrive in Georgetown after19 hrs of traveling. I found a wonderful guesthouse (S & D Guesthouse) which is the newest in town. A private room for only $6 a night makes this a very good day.

Palau Langkawi (Malaysia)

2008-11-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Koh Lanta

2008-11-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

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.

Diving on Koh Haa

2008-12-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Ao Nang Beach and surrounding beaches

2008-12-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 14, 2008

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

Krabi

2008-12-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

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.

Hong Kong, China

2009-01-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

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.

Thanksgiving in Koh Lanta, Thailand

2008-11-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

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

Mae Hongson Day Market (pictures for Kade and Madison)

2008-10-13T03:02:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures in the day market. The first is for Madison because I knew she would love the cute bunnies. The next one is fried insects which they had to eat if you wanted. There were crickets, roaches, grub worms and a few I did not recognize. Thought Kade would get a kick out of it.

Bus ride from Mae Hongson to Mae Sot

2008-10-13T03:10:00.001-07:00

4 hours on a big bus and then transferred to a small pickup truck with semi-padded benches in the rear with a top for 6 more hours. At one point there were 21 women, children and men either in the back of the truck or standing on the rear bumper and holding on. The scenery in the mountains was truly incredible though and Lonely Planet has it listed as best overland trip in Thailand.

Sukhothai (old city)

2008-10-13T03:14:00.000-07:00

Monday October 13, 2008

I came here to see the old city because it was Thailand's first capital. I visited the old city today and the ruins were spectacular. It is said that much is lost due to the fact that we do not perceive the religious significance of this area and I am sure that is true. I leave tomorrow for Bangkok but may just stay the night and head to Cambodia. I will be coming back through Bangkok 2 more times on my trip. Once passing through to south Thailand and once to fly to Hong Kong for my return.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2008-10-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

Wednesday October 15, 2008

After 5 hrs on the worst road that I have ever been on I finally arrived in Siem Reap. It is the hub for everything that is Angkor Wat which is called the 8th Wonder of the World by some. I hope to stay here for a few days and recharge, finally, and make plans to visit Angkor Wat. There are 1 day, 3 day and week long admission tickets. The area is immense with so many different temples to see but I think that after a few of the biggest ones including Angkor Wat I will have seen enough. Seeing Angkor Wat is up there almost as much as seeing the Great Wall.

The first picture is of a "spirit house" which is usually located in front of many businesses and houses and come in many shapes, sizes and colors. They are supposed to be a home for friendly spirits who will bestow blessings on them and remain outside the house in comfort. Many times food, water and flowers are left on the houses for the spirits.

Bayon

2008-10-17T23:59:00.001-07:00

Supposed to be famous for the Bayon faces in the stone pillars. Not crazy about it but took some pictures anyway.

Ta Prohm

2008-10-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

My favorite temple. It is slowly being engulfed by the jungle and was used as a location in Tomb Raider.

Angkor Wat

2008-10-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 18, 2008

The temples of Angkor are numerous and many people spend an entire week exploring them. I decided to concentrate on the Big 3 which are Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Bayon.

I took a tuk-tuk which I hired the previous day and set out at 5 am. It was only a 15 minute ride and it was still dark when we arrive at Angkor Wat with about 75 other tourists waiting for the sun to come up. Only it was overcast and a light mist was falling. I have been anticipating this moment my entire trip as it is billed by some as the 8th Wonder of the World. I guess that is because it did not make the New 7 Wonders of the World list last year.

Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and it is truly a sight to see but somehow it did not have that "WOW" factor. Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was because it is 5 am. or maybe I had just imagined how it would be for so long. I have seen postcards of Angkor Wat as the sun is coming up behind it and that is what I wanted. Unfortunately this is the moonsoon (2 hrs of hard rain every day and some rain the rest) season. I really hope that it is not because I have seen so much in the last 3 years I expect too much. On the other hand, everything can't be Machu Picchu at sunrise or your first time to see Mount Everest up close and personal. But it was really nice. lol

Life on the Road in Southeast Asia

2008-10-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

I was reading my Southeast Asia Lonely Planet Guidebook and it has a section that perfectly describes life on the road in southeast Asia. So I thought I would share since it is exactly how it feels.

"Southeast Asia is loud, no doubt about it. The roosters have been crowing all night, the screaming motorcycles have been doing circles around your bed and the guttural call to prayers seems to emanate from next door. It isn't even noon yet and the temperature has already reahed the boiling. You climb out of your rock-hard mattress and head down to the shared toilet at the end of the hall. The mirror is too short, the sink is too low and the whole room needs to be sprayed down with bleach. Now its time for a shower (cold water for this penny-pincher), a powdering and a desperate search for clean clothes.
Today is the day you pack up and move to the next town. Arriving at the destination station, the bus is flanked by touts all thirsty for your business. You haggle the price, which is always inflated due to an informal 'I'm new in town' tax. The first guesthouse you visit has a shady yard with chickens scratching around in the dirt but the room is damp and noisy, so you thank the testy clerk and set off down the road. You use your budget senses to sniff out the best score in town and in a few hours you're camped out in the shade with a steamy bowl of noodles and a sweaty bottle of beer. Beats the wage-slave life. "
2008 Lonely Planet Southeast Asia

Mai Sai

2008-10-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

Monday October 8, 2008

Arrived in Mai Sai after a long day of bus rides. It is on the border with Myanamar and my hope is to go to Myanmar and travel to Bagan and see the deserted 4400 temples in the valley.

Myanamar (Burma) Police State

2008-10-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Tuesday October 9, 2008

I went to the border. What a hassle. I had to provide them with 3 pictures of myself and let them keep my passport. They issued a temporary passport and tried to get me to just see the border town of Tachilek and then return to Thailand. When I told them I wanted to go to Bagan they said no. They issued a 14 day visa but there were only 2 towns I could visit with 150 miles. So I went to Chaing Tong. The immigration office marked my temporary visa with the location and then sold me a bus ticket to that location. I had to give the bus driver my papers which he kept until we arrived. I was given seat No. 2 behind the bus driver. The next bus my seat was also No. 2. Starting to see a pattern. That must be the tourist seat.

Upon arrival at Chaing Kong, I tried to get a room at what seemed reasonably priced hotels. At each place I was told they were full when I am pretty sure they weren't. Then I found a hotel after a few recommendations that seemed empty but nice. It is now my belief these are government (military dictatorship) owned hotels just for tourists. The room was $20 a night which is outrageous but there were no other options. Plus the hotels refused to take Myanamar money and only wanted US currency. How bizarre. I was able to go out at night, eat in the local market and have a beer with some local men who were watching what looked like karoake on television and drinking whiskey. The women singing were wearing skirts about knee length but the camera kept zooming in on the legs and ankles and the men would laugh and holler. I guess it was kinda like Myanamar porn. lol

The next morning I decided to go back to Thailand based on my limited ability to travel. When I went to check out they did not have my temporary visa. With almost no English spoken here they finally went to Immigration to get my papers which had been sent there. Don't know why. They asked me where I wanted to go next and marked it again on my papers and drove me to the bus station. They waited while I bought a ticket. 4 roadblocks and 5 hrs later I was at the Thai border at 5:15 pm which closes at 5:30. I cleared Myanamar, got my passport and head to Thailand immigration. As I got to the window I realized I did not complete my departure card. I did that and looked up and the window was closed. Not sure what happens when you are on the bridge between countries and both are closed especially when both sides have men with automatic weapons watching the crossings.

A man saw me and radioed someone who opened up and let me through. Finally back in Thailand.

Mae Hong Son

2008-10-10T04:32:00.000-07:00

Friday October 10, 2008

A beautiful 4 hr bus ride up and down the mountains made the bus ride to Mae Hong Son one of my favorite bus rides so far. I found a hotel, since southeast asia has very few hostels, from a flyer handed out by someone at the bus station. A private room with shared bath for a little over $4. There is also free internet so I will try and upload pictures tomorrow. I have been doing the private room for about 10 days now because of the limited options. But most are between 4-6 dollars with a private bath usually.

The hotel has incredible views of the lake and temple. It is also convenient to everything. May stay here a few days and recharge. Busing and changing locations frequently is tiresome and also is a major expense.