Island Hopping Part 2:

From Phuket, we took a bus back to Krabi the following day (Phuket is connected by a bridge to the mainland). Then, we took a longtail boat from Krabi north to Railay, which is a group of 4 beaches surrounded by huge limestone cliffs – the climbing mecca of Thailand. While Railay is not an island, there is no road that connects it to the rest of the world – everything comes in and out on longboats. The whole place really caters to the traveling-climber type who loves Bob Marley – mellow man! We found a little $4/night bungalow on Tonsai beach that was worth about $2.50 with holey mosquito nets, things scurrying across the floor, and the electricity only on from 6pm to 3am. Good times, good times.
























We went climbing on Thursday. Rented gear from Wee’s Climbing School – we just walked in and said, “we’d like some gear” and they said, “have you climbed before?” and we said, “Yep” and they handed it over! No signing forms, no proving skills…so we spent the early afternoon climbing along the beautiful cliff. I have not been climbing in TWO YEARS because of a wrist injury, so it felt amazing.

The limestone had awesome holds and the view was spectacular. The start of one of the climbs was best through the little hole in the picture here. The above picture is the view from the top of the climb (later that night we stood on the beach and watched 2 base jumpers jump from those cliffs – not very high!!!) My forearms died almost immediately, however…and it started to rain.


This photo is the start of one of the climbs - best up and through a hole...I felt a little like a born again climber.









So, for the afternoon we went on a wet wet wet jungle hike between the beaches. Found an abandoned group of bungalows out in the middle of nowhere and picked a papaya from a tree…only to realize we were being watched by some guy in a yellow shirt across the clearing – creepy! We tried to hike to a hidden lagoon, but the sun was setting and the climbing was precarious (vertical rock in many parts, some fixed ropes, everything covered in red oozing mud), so we headed back down. Watched the sun set from a very beautiful beach with a large cave to the left side, then swam/waded all the way home holding the backpack out of the water, as the tide was coming in. The camera stayed dry the whole time…








Friday was Deep Water Soloing! This is where you go climbing on overhanging cliffs above water. You don’t climb with gear, only your shoes, and when you fall, you drop into the ocean. We went out to some neighboring islands with about 10 other climbers in 2 longtail boats. Very fun to clamber around, wet hands, wet shoes, on the face of the rock. Then, when you get to high or you can’t hold on anymore, you just drop down and splash in! We ate lunch – fried rice in metal containers – hanging out on a beach, did some snorkeling, then went back out for round 2.
When we came back to our bungalow we had been robbed - monkeys broke in, ate parts of the papaya, and went through the trash! Bad monkeys! Early the next morning, I heard scuttling in the wall by my head and looked over to see a giant claw coming through the wall! Bree suspects it was a scorpion - "They can kill you, you know?" - and I had no idea at the time, but we decided to switch bungalows.


As we were packing up, I carefully peeled a pumello to munch on and let it sitting out on the pourch. I looked over from the doorway and saw a monkey in the trash bin EATING THE REST OF MY PAPAYA and then, suddenly, a monkey scurried across the pourch and stole the pumello. The little jerk sat on the pourch of the next bungalow and ate it right in front of us! The nerve of some primates! I watched another monkey a few hours later sitting on a roof of another hut as a wooman sat below in a hammock. The monkey ran down the pole the hammock was tied to, stole her candy bar, and sat on the roof eating it - she never had a clue! Bad monkeys!





























So we moved to a beautiful bungalow in the jungle and went for another jungle walk back to the lagoon. This time we made it (less rain & more sunlight) and were rewarded with a muddy hole in the ground surrounded by 200 foot limestone cliffs on all sides. ("The journey is the destination"). We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and drinking large bottles of Chang at one of the many reggae-themed beach bars. Talked to some interesting people we had met the days before while climbing. Ate cheeseburgers and green curry.

Then Sunday was upon us and we took a longtail boat back to reality, took the plane back to Bangkok...I almost had a panick attack when I stopped by the grocery store to get a few things and spent 1 hour trying to muscle my way through what seemed like millions of Thias aimlessly strolling around the store. Ahhhhh! And the pollution - the noise, the air...welcome home to Bangkok! So I skipped out and headed to the spa - had a great thai massage and went to bed happy.

Island Hopping in Southern Thailand Part 1

Our 10 day break from school came at the perfect time – why don’t schools in the US have the same thing?!

Directly after school on Friday, Spencer and I flew down to Krabi, which is on the southern peninsula of Thailand just west of Phuket. Ahhhh…let the holiday begin!

On Saturday morning we took a water taxi out to Koh Pi Pi – the islands you can see on the map located between Krabi and Phuket. Koh Pi Pi is actually 2 islands, Leh and Don. You can stay on Don, but only visit Leh. Both are beautiful islands with tall cliffs, lots of caves, good diving/snorkeling, and beautiful sandy beaches. Both islands were hit very hard in the Tsunami and there is lots of rebuilding still going on. We stayed on Don the first night in a ritzy high-class 25$/night bungalow down by the beach.




We went for a beautiful night dive – tons of coral, nudibranchs, fish, sea fans. We turned off our flashlights and waved our arms around – explosions of green glowing phosphloresence!








On Sunday we rented a kayak and paddled out to Pi Pi Leh. A very beautiful island with huge soaring cliffs, lots of caves, and two deep harbors with white sandy beaches.

We explored caves littered with ghetto-rigged scaffolding made out of bamboo and vines that local Thais use to harvest swiftlet nests. These bird nests, built from dried bird spit, are made into bird nest soup, a delicacy throughout Asia. One bowl goes for thousands of dollars.










People live in these caves permanently to harvest the nests, a very dangerous occupation and some die each year - We even saw people sleeping in their beds in the cave! Later, we learned that these nests are so highly prized, many are guarded by men with guns; others are booby trapped with LAND MINES! Woops.










We spent most of Sunday exploring Pi Pi Leh, kayaking into half-submerged caves, snorkeling, exploring beaches. The movie The Beach (Leonardo Decaprio) was filmed at one of the beaches here, and the cave part of the movie shot at another part. Very beautiful, but a bit exploited by tourism at this point.






















That night we stayed in a tiny rustic bungalow at the top of a hill, overlooking Pi Pi Leh. You could lounge in the hammock, eat snacks, and watch the longtail boats zoom back and forth…

On Monday Spencer and I took another water taxi over to Phuket – a big touristy island sort of like the Miami Beach of Thailand. Lots of development, hotels, retired Europeans sauntering around in banana hammocks. We found a little piece of solitude at Fantasy Hill Bungalows at the edge of Kata Beach (on the western side of Phuket). We were hoping for surf (what Kata is known for), but the water was perfectly calm. Instead, we swam out to the nearest island and snorkeled around it. Watched 2 octapi, saw lots of tropical fish and sea cucumbers, coral, sea fans…hiked up onto the island and found a clearing in the brush where it looked like someone had been growing things…left before we looked too closely. That night we sat at the edge of the beach swilling wine and orange juice and people watching. We ate at an Indian restaurant – the best naan and butter chicken and dahl ever! I have been craving a lot of Indian food since moving to Thailand – that and sushi. Almost more so than Thai food, which I eat every day.

Sunday was full of diving. Went out in a giant boat with so many divers we needed 3 diver masters! A 2 day dive – the first was at King Cruiser, a passenger ferry that ran aground (perhaps for insurance money?) halfway out to Koh Pi Pi. I am used to diving in the icy great lakes, so the amount of life, the visibility, and the warmth on this wreck seemed extraordinary. I was a little concerned about diving with so many other people, but it turned out to be great fun to see all of the bubbles rising to the surface as I waited at my decompression stop. The second dive was at Shark Point – the reef that King Cruiser hit when it sank. Very impressive diving – a chain of 7 mounds that you can explore, with a stiff current heading in one direction, so we could let ourselves float past all of the giant sea fans, fish, lobster…we saw a sleeping leapord shark!

My Home Turf....

This weekend I stayed around Bangkok - did the shopping I've been putting off form months (finally bought a clothes line to dry my clothes on...finally bought a garbage can) and worked on an article stemming from my thesis that I should have finished last summer. Here are a few pictures of my turf, starting at my apartment, and then walking down to the BTS - the skytrain that takes you around the city.









My *very* humble abode, where I sleep sometimes, cook once in a while, and that's about it.













Street vendors are everywhere! Most are on wheels so they can move around.


















The broom/duster vender guy bikes all over with his wares...










3 people on a little scooter is a pretty regular thing - I've seen a family of 5 pile on - mom and dad and 3 kids hanging on!






Many very poor people work construction. They work for months building a big house or an apartment building and they usually live on site - put up these temporary shacks made out of corrugated metal and wood...then one day you wake up and the whole community is gone and just their trash is left. Here is one of those spots along the road...






Motorcycle taxi drivers...most women sit side-saddle. The hard core ladies never hold on and make a point of talking on the mobile, like this one!











The BTS station by my house.













Look at those Flying Falongs...hockey in Bangkok?!?

This weekend I went to Koh Samet AGAIN! This time 13 other teachers from ASB went as well – a big party. Once again, we took an unlit speedboat taxi from the mainland to the island, flying through the darkness. Once again they dropped us right at our beach and we wadded to shore. Friday night we all drank buckets on the beach and danced and danced and tried our best to say “one smart fellow he felt smart, 2 smart fellows, they both felt smart” which is a favorite of mine…at 2am we went swimming in the waves – pretty convenient with the bar being right on the beach. Some got a little crazier than others….

We stayed in little bungalows right next to the beach again, and it was so nice to wake up in the morning and look out on the ocean. Most of the teachers hung out on the beach all day, playing soccer or getting massages. Spencer and I rented a kayak and explored south of where we were staying. We found an absolutely (as cheesy as it sounds) magical beach that was practically deserted, but found it was actually the beach front to a group of little bungalows hidden under the forest canopy that you can rent. While exploring, I found the biggest spider I have ever seen hanging from its web 10 feet up in the trees.
That night we all piled in a taxi – which is a pickup with benches in the back – and drove out to a restaurant standing on pillars out in the bay. You have to stand out on the dock and ring a big bell, and then one of the waiters jumps on a raft, pulls it over to the mainland, and picks you up at the dock.












This is the waiter heading over to pick us up - and then all 13 of us climbing on!



Once at the restaurant, you sit on cushions on the floor around big glass-topped tables, with your legs dangling above the water through a hole in the floor. And we ate and we ate and we drank and we drank. Good fun. They also had a little aquatic animal farm with crabs, baby sea turtles, and sharks. I’m not sure if they were raising them to release or eat or…



Afterwards, we headed back to the beach by our bungalows and sat in the sand, drinking (you guessed it) buckets, playing guitars and singing. My backpacking guitar definitely came in handy…Another wonderful, relaxing weekend.

KO SAMET
Last weekend I went to Ko Samet with Spencer - a quiet little island in the Gulf of Thailand about a 4 hour bus ride from Bangkok. Of course, you can’t get to the island on the bus, so we hired a speed boat late Friday night, along with a couple of Brazilian models (no, we didn’t hire them, we shared the fare - ooh la la). The boat zoomed us out to the island in the darkness, right to the bungalows we wanted to stay in, and brought us close enough to shore so we could jump out and wade onto the beach. Friday night we stayed in a cute little bungalow tucked into the trees on a hill, just up from the beach. We explored our little beach and saw a few flame dancers, but it was surprisingly quiet for the “party” section of the island.

Saturday morning after a nice little run (I’m willing be bet NOBODY else on the island got up and went for a run. Most people sat at the edge of the white sand beach and drank pineapple smoothies or got thai massage laying on their towels). Then we rented another scooter (this one only 110 cc and $7/day with gas included) and headed off to explore the island. The island is only a few km in length with 1 “road” running from tip to toe. The road really more like a dirt track that heads directly up and directly down small mountains dense with vegetation. Talk about extreme scootering! In each little valley there was access to another white sand beach, another little group of bungalows, another rocky outlook to the ocean.... We had a wonderful time exploring and nobody even got hurt in the scooter crash.





We spent Saturday night at another little beach, lounging at a little bar at the edge of the water drinking buckets of the nightly special and playing connect four until the bar closed. What a tropical paradise!









On Sunday, we rode the ferry back to the mainland ($1.50) which seemed to be a re-vamped fishing boat that could hold about 15 people, and then caught the bus back to Bangkok. I definitely realized here that I am a fish at heart and miss Lake Superior. I could spend the rest of my life on a beach, I think.

Kanchanaburi

This weekend Spencer and I went to Kanchanaburi, which is a town of about 80,000 people to the west of Bangkok. The town is just to the east of the mountains which separate Thailand from Mynamar (Burma). After school on Friday I took a tiny truck to the skytrain, met up with Spencer (who works at the other campus out of town) and we took the skytrain to the end of the line. Then we took a cab to the bus station and took a bus (we got there 10 minutes before the 4:00 bus left) to Kanchanaburi – a 2 hour trip. Note – getting around Bangkok is always complicated and involves many modes of transportation.

We ate pad thai at a street vendor and took a tuk tuk (a little 3 wheeled vehicle with a roof, like a cross between Mr. Bean’s car and a scooter) to the river. We stayed at a little guest house right on the river – the rooms were actually floating on the river like giant pontoons. Very beautiful to wake up in the morning and sit out on the porch surrounded by water flowers. This is a picture of the view from the pourch.

Saturday morning we went for a run and ended up running across the famous Bridge Over the River Kwai where our POW soldiers were forced to build the Death Train Railway and so many died.


After that we rented a scooter (hardly anybody drives motorcycles here, just 100cc scooters) for $4 and filled the tank for $2 and headed out to Erawai National Park, 70km away. Very beautiful scenery with the mountains to our left and lots of bush around us. It felt strange because the last time I rode a motorcycle I wore boots, a major helmet, long pants, a thick leather jacket, gloves…and this time I wore my tank top, sandals, and a little plastic helmet like a beefed up baseball helmet. Ha ha! We drove very safely though, mom, and the only real danger was avoiding all of the soi dogs that just lay in the middle of the road.

Erawai National Park is known for its huge waterfalls and caves. We went to a 7 tiered waterfall that was spread out over 2 km with a little trail leading up up up through the brush – beware of the tigers! The tech guy at our school saw one here while camping out last year. I didn’t see any, though. But the falls were very beautiful – the water was an opaque blue that you see only in photographs, and each of the 7 levels (we stopped at all of them and swam in most) was a bit different. Some you could slide down, some you could go under, some were very tall and some shorter and wider.







This photo is of a shrine - a giant tree wrapped in all sorts of fabrics with food offerings - very interesting. This is a popular place for Thai tourists to come and swim, but the farther up the falls we went the less people we saw. It felt very good to be out in the bush, a big difference from Bangkok, and swimming in such great water.









After the park closed, we feasted on more great vendor food – a pile of white rice and scoops of interesting looking meats and vegetables, frozen watermelon drinks and thai ice tea for $1.

On Sunday we headed home – catching another bus, for which we had to wait 15 minutes, and it put us out another $2. Kanchanaburi was a very nice city, with so many more caves and waterfalls to explore, I think for sure I will be going back in the next few months.

Hua Hin



Last weekend I went with 12 other teachers from American School of Bangkok down to Hua Hin, which is located out on the Gulf of Thailand heading down the east arm towards Phuket. We took a big van down there and stayed in a little hotel right on the water – infact, most of the rooms were over the water in high tide. Friday was my 25th birthday and we all went out to a restaurant and had drinks and some people sang karaoke. They sang happy birthday to me and gave me a tiny butter-flavored cake. Yum!

This is a typical food vendors cart - he's selling ice cream - cones for 10 baht, which is about 10 cents - coconut ice cream drizzled with condensed milk!


Saturday I explored the long sandy beach with Spencer. The water is so warm you could stay in all day long! Hua Hin used to be a small fishing village – and there are still dozens of brightly colored fishing boats anchored along the beach. They sit in the sand as the tide comes in and out. When the King moved to Hua Hin, the little village became a lot more fancy and now there are large hotels along the shore. It was still very nice for swimming and picking up shells and star fish and poking at jelly fish washed up on the shore. We met a guy who was skim boarding along the shore, and he brought out two more skimboards for us to borrow. We spent hours running in the shallow water and hopping on the little plywood boards and skimming along or falling off and rolling in the water. Made me want to surf!


That night we watched a muay thai fight – like boxing except they spend more time kicking each other in the chest than punching each other in the face. It was very interesting, definitely more of an art than boxing, incorporating a lot of rhythm. It was disturbing, however, how young some of the fighters were – I think the last one must have been 6!





On Sunday the man who was supposed to pick us up in the vans and take us home didn’t show, so we took the train back. It was a 4 hour ride and the “regular” seats without air conditioning (but open windows…it was almost cold) was 80 baht, which is $2. The train had a drop toilet where you put your feet on the metal footpads and squat (pretty common in public restrooms)– and you could see right down to the tracks! On the way home we passed a lot of flooded rice fields with palm trees sprouting out of their middles and little shacks built along the sides. At most of the train stops, local venders would get on, selling hot meals wrapped in leaves or boxes for 20 baht (50 cents) and it was a bit of a gamble what you would get, but always turned out good.

What a weekend! My first outside of Bangkok since I have been here! On Monday I was totally whipped out! Next weekend I think we will be going up to Kanchanaburi to explore the waterfalls and forests and do a bit of hiking.

This is a typical street in Bangkok - very narrow sidewalks and walls right up against the sides. The lanes are so narrow its sometimes hard for two cars to pass - and a hazzard to walk on the side. Most of the time I have to straddle the gutter. It's fun.













This is the soi (street) infront of my apartment building. It's nice and quiet, but close to a larger road where there is lots of food, shops, and motorcycle taxis to catch. To the left is the police training center and I watch the Thai police in training in the mornings as I walk to work.















On my back deck.