so it has been a couple days since I've written anything and figured today would be a good day to recap.Its been a great couple days - just lunging at the beach, eating, reading and relaxing. Jack and I started to explore the west side of the island and while it is much more touristy than the southern tip it is still quite nice. We met a polish girl that was on koh tao via couchsurfing, so we had dinner with her.
As for my birthday, it is a little bittersweet because our new friends Richard and Petra are leaving today. We have become such good "vacation friends". Luckily for us we are bringing even more people to the island. Jack's friend from HS, Nate and some people jack has met either from couchsurfing or while he was in Israel. so we should have a solid group of friends on the island now. As for today, I'm gonna get some food, a massage or 7 and then just kinda bum around the island, per the usual.
anywho, next time I check in we will probably be leaving the islands :tear: and heading north to Chang Mai.
catch ya later
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Nang Yuan
Writting in the journal seems to be the only way I can keep track of what day it is and I've completely given up on keeping track of time.
We caught our boat to Nang Yuan today and it was absolutely ridiculous. Look for pictures jack put up. Richard & Petra had an underwater camera so hopefully we got some good pics.
There were just soooo many fish and the water was crystal clear. At one point I had 35-40 fish circling around me and they would swim right up to you and nibble on your fingers and toes! NangYuan is really a set of two island connected my a sand bar. we were able to score some chairs and umbrellas so we could escape the sun if need be. It was really incredible to essentially be sitting on two different "coasts" at the same time.
For dinner we went back to Koh Sumai and ate at a German ex-pat's restaurant. The food was amazing, the presentation excellent and it was cheap! We had all bounced around the idea of taking cooking classes and decided that we should see if this place would teach us. The German and his wife have wanted to set up cooking classes, but unfortunately they are understaffed right now so they had to pass.
jack really wanted to play pool so we played a few racks before retiring to the bungalows for conversations and some Rum & cokes!
We caught our boat to Nang Yuan today and it was absolutely ridiculous. Look for pictures jack put up. Richard & Petra had an underwater camera so hopefully we got some good pics.
There were just soooo many fish and the water was crystal clear. At one point I had 35-40 fish circling around me and they would swim right up to you and nibble on your fingers and toes! NangYuan is really a set of two island connected my a sand bar. we were able to score some chairs and umbrellas so we could escape the sun if need be. It was really incredible to essentially be sitting on two different "coasts" at the same time.
For dinner we went back to Koh Sumai and ate at a German ex-pat's restaurant. The food was amazing, the presentation excellent and it was cheap! We had all bounced around the idea of taking cooking classes and decided that we should see if this place would teach us. The German and his wife have wanted to set up cooking classes, but unfortunately they are understaffed right now so they had to pass.
jack really wanted to play pool so we played a few racks before retiring to the bungalows for conversations and some Rum & cokes!
Turtle Island (Koh Tao)
We had to catch the early boat to Koh Tao, but met a very nice French couple onthe shuttle. jack loves to show off his French skills now, but its great we have gotten a lot of good tips on places to stay.
On the ride over we talked with a dive instructor who said that in certain parts you could see the sea floor, 60 feet down! Also that you can have fishermen take you out to all the great spots for 1/3 of the price of the tours.
We got a basic bungalow on "shark bay" right next to these two terrific couples - Gordon & Terry, Richard & Petra.
You have to swim or take a boat to the beach (our bungalow is on the side of the cove) its a good way to keep the riff raff out. We hung out on the beach with Richard & Petra before the 4 of us went to eat at a "makala" dinner - basically and all you can eat grill type place. that was aweomse - its like a thai version of the melting pot.
Jack was able to arrange a "snorkling adventure" with Gordon, Richard, Petra & I. Gordon & Terry have been coming here for years, so we all felt a little better with him guiding us through the shark populated waters.
We can basically just hop into the water straight from our bungalow, just becarefull of the slippy rocks! We saw 100's of fish and at least a dozen black tip sharks, once you see the first one you kind of get over the fear, theyjust cruise along at the bottom and could care less about you. the funny thing is the "Trigger Fish" is more dangerous than the sharks as they are very territorial this time of year. We were even chased by a remora for 15 - 20 minutes, actually pretty comical to watch everyone try and shoo it away.
It seems as if seafood is theonly food i can really stomach (i know, its a tough life) but at leat its just as cheap as chicken and pork.
Tomorrow we head to Nang Yuan - an e\ven more amazing snorkling island north of Koh Tao. that night we all hung out drinking on our balconies just talking about life, the economy even a little personal happiness seminar from Jack.
On the ride over we talked with a dive instructor who said that in certain parts you could see the sea floor, 60 feet down! Also that you can have fishermen take you out to all the great spots for 1/3 of the price of the tours.
We got a basic bungalow on "shark bay" right next to these two terrific couples - Gordon & Terry, Richard & Petra.
You have to swim or take a boat to the beach (our bungalow is on the side of the cove) its a good way to keep the riff raff out. We hung out on the beach with Richard & Petra before the 4 of us went to eat at a "makala" dinner - basically and all you can eat grill type place. that was aweomse - its like a thai version of the melting pot.
Jack was able to arrange a "snorkling adventure" with Gordon, Richard, Petra & I. Gordon & Terry have been coming here for years, so we all felt a little better with him guiding us through the shark populated waters.
We can basically just hop into the water straight from our bungalow, just becarefull of the slippy rocks! We saw 100's of fish and at least a dozen black tip sharks, once you see the first one you kind of get over the fear, theyjust cruise along at the bottom and could care less about you. the funny thing is the "Trigger Fish" is more dangerous than the sharks as they are very territorial this time of year. We were even chased by a remora for 15 - 20 minutes, actually pretty comical to watch everyone try and shoo it away.
It seems as if seafood is theonly food i can really stomach (i know, its a tough life) but at leat its just as cheap as chicken and pork.
Tomorrow we head to Nang Yuan - an e\ven more amazing snorkling island north of Koh Tao. that night we all hung out drinking on our balconies just talking about life, the economy even a little personal happiness seminar from Jack.
Koh Samui Strikes Back
This morning we are going to go see a tiger "show" we were both a little skeptical of its quality, but we still could not pass it it up.
Before the show we found yet ANOTHER amazing beach to set up camp at and then explored some of the beachfront neighborhoods.
As I mentioned earlier our expectations were pretty low for this show and when we walked into the aquarium we didn't feel much better. We did get to feed sea turtles some lettuce - those little buggers were vicious, the guy next to us had lost part of his finger to a turtle!
The Bird show prior to the tigers was actually really really good. Lots of races, aerial tricks and even a bird that was able to guess my age correctly! The actual tiger show was good, pretty much what i expected, lots of jumping, walking tight ropes and such - still very impressive though. The show ended with some otters doing tricks easily the most hysterical thing I've seen on this trip, one of them even rode a zip line! At the end of the show I got to hold the little otter, I think I want one!
Before the show we found yet ANOTHER amazing beach to set up camp at and then explored some of the beachfront neighborhoods.
As I mentioned earlier our expectations were pretty low for this show and when we walked into the aquarium we didn't feel much better. We did get to feed sea turtles some lettuce - those little buggers were vicious, the guy next to us had lost part of his finger to a turtle!
The Bird show prior to the tigers was actually really really good. Lots of races, aerial tricks and even a bird that was able to guess my age correctly! The actual tiger show was good, pretty much what i expected, lots of jumping, walking tight ropes and such - still very impressive though. The show ended with some otters doing tricks easily the most hysterical thing I've seen on this trip, one of them even rode a zip line! At the end of the show I got to hold the little otter, I think I want one!
Operation Koh Sumai
Hahaha yes, I have to first give a shout out to my sister and Fick for picking up on "Operation Koh Sumai" (Meet the Parents). So We awoke Wednesday (18th) with a full day ahead of us. We hopped on our motorbikes and hit the road to go Elephant hunting....just kidding, we were going to be going on a trek with them.
Before setting off we stopped for some lunch and I had the first real solid meal of my trip, the noodle soup with seafood was awesome and I was relieved to actually feel full after finishing a meal for once.
Jack has been designatied the negotiator of the trip thus far so he bargined us onto the elephants for a decent price. I was realy excited to actually be riding in elephant, but the best part was that I got to pilot the elephant back to the "base camp" Bombei was our elephant and she was awesome, I got to feed her some coconut after she crushed it with her foot.
Our guide "Simon" was from North Thailand (chaeng mi) and had been working with elephants for 15 years! He taugh us all about thai elephants and the differences between them and their african cousins.
After the elphants we explored some of the island looking for waterfalls. Jack had a little incident with his bike as he almost rode it off the side of the mountain - he is alive and uninjured so don't fret. We found this semi-private beach where you could hire a longtail boat to take you out to "the five islands" it was pretty incredible and without any other pharangs (tourists/white people) around we really started to realize we were a long way from home. After that we stoped by this ridiculous sand bar that we walked out onto and got some great pictures.
The motorbikes have been invaluable to us, having the freedom to just hop on and go has saved us a lot of money on cabs and such and allowed us to keep exploring the islands.
we swung by our new favorite place for dinner, picked up some singhas for the evening and reflected on the day.
Before setting off we stopped for some lunch and I had the first real solid meal of my trip, the noodle soup with seafood was awesome and I was relieved to actually feel full after finishing a meal for once.
Jack has been designatied the negotiator of the trip thus far so he bargined us onto the elephants for a decent price. I was realy excited to actually be riding in elephant, but the best part was that I got to pilot the elephant back to the "base camp" Bombei was our elephant and she was awesome, I got to feed her some coconut after she crushed it with her foot.
Our guide "Simon" was from North Thailand (chaeng mi) and had been working with elephants for 15 years! He taugh us all about thai elephants and the differences between them and their african cousins.
After the elphants we explored some of the island looking for waterfalls. Jack had a little incident with his bike as he almost rode it off the side of the mountain - he is alive and uninjured so don't fret. We found this semi-private beach where you could hire a longtail boat to take you out to "the five islands" it was pretty incredible and without any other pharangs (tourists/white people) around we really started to realize we were a long way from home. After that we stoped by this ridiculous sand bar that we walked out onto and got some great pictures.
The motorbikes have been invaluable to us, having the freedom to just hop on and go has saved us a lot of money on cabs and such and allowed us to keep exploring the islands.
we swung by our new favorite place for dinner, picked up some singhas for the evening and reflected on the day.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
pretty crappy day
Since we had to catch a flight @ 5 for Koh Samui & go get our final fitments for our suites, not a problem except we woke up at noon and didn't get rolling until 1:30. We hailed a cab and "rushed" to the tailors, but the cabbie was taking us all over the place and I was starting to freak just a bit. I also felt like absolute garbage (hangover + antibiotics on an empty stomage = the suck). We made it to the airport in time to find out our flight was at 6 not 5 so plenty of time - whew.
The Bankok Air Lounge was sweet, free food, drinks, etc. While lounging I realized our flight put us in at night so we wouldn't reallly see how beautifuol our surroundings were until we woke up thenext morning. kind of exciting.
We arrived at Amity Bungalows @ 8ish, checked out the main drag and called it a night after laying in hammocks discussing lifes questions and our plans for the next day or two.
The Bankok Air Lounge was sweet, free food, drinks, etc. While lounging I realized our flight put us in at night so we wouldn't reallly see how beautifuol our surroundings were until we woke up thenext morning. kind of exciting.
We arrived at Amity Bungalows @ 8ish, checked out the main drag and called it a night after laying in hammocks discussing lifes questions and our plans for the next day or two.
After banging out a couple hours of sleep on Mimi's "bed", Jack and I awoke to take on my first full day in BK. Unfortuntely, non one told us that BK doesn't really wake up until noon. We took the train from Huay Kwang, downtown in search of the eluisive Phratnam Market. Without any success we started to head towards the MBK, the premier mall in BK, so we could unlock my phone. We did stumble upon a tailor who was able to put some great suits together for Jack and I. Jack used all of the material I wanted to use for a grey suit - the bastard.
We made it to the mall eventually - CRAZY - its like a gigantic market but just in a mall. Probably a bajillion cell phones, this awesome Canon store/museum. Oh and some chick getting botoxed. Histerical. We also booked our flight to Koh Samui, an island off the coast of Thailand.
After that we hung out in Luimphini Park, saw some komodo dragons. I was also interviwed by some Thai schoolgirls.
We made our way home to get ready for our "big night out" in Bangkok. We headed to the main backpackers hangout, this place was ridic. Think like adams morgan but crazier with more drinking in the streets. We hung out with some fellow travelers
Christian - from Cali
Wim - France, has been traveling for over a year and a half
Chris - Cameroon/Jamaica (i think) a hip hop DJ/ law student
After enjoying some Singhas, and soaking up the experience (read: bar hopping), Jack, Christian, Mimi and friends and I hopped into a car to go home. Along the way we made a turn onto a semi-busy road and a motorcyclist plowed into the back of the car. I don't recall the accident per se, I just knew that my head was bleeding and I had no idea what happened. My mind was racing, I had a head injury and i was in flipping Thailand. Jack being the nice guy that he is went with Mimi's friend (who was suffering from whiplash) to the hospital. The apramedic's checked me out and it was just a cut on the back of my head so I was alright. The police did want me to go the hospital though so we waited for one of Mimi's friends to arrive and bring us. I decided to forego the stitchesand just get it cleaned. We got home around 5ish
easy to say it was a LONG day.
We made it to the mall eventually - CRAZY - its like a gigantic market but just in a mall. Probably a bajillion cell phones, this awesome Canon store/museum. Oh and some chick getting botoxed. Histerical. We also booked our flight to Koh Samui, an island off the coast of Thailand.
After that we hung out in Luimphini Park, saw some komodo dragons. I was also interviwed by some Thai schoolgirls.
We made our way home to get ready for our "big night out" in Bangkok. We headed to the main backpackers hangout, this place was ridic. Think like adams morgan but crazier with more drinking in the streets. We hung out with some fellow travelers
Christian - from Cali
Wim - France, has been traveling for over a year and a half
Chris - Cameroon/Jamaica (i think) a hip hop DJ/ law student
After enjoying some Singhas, and soaking up the experience (read: bar hopping), Jack, Christian, Mimi and friends and I hopped into a car to go home. Along the way we made a turn onto a semi-busy road and a motorcyclist plowed into the back of the car. I don't recall the accident per se, I just knew that my head was bleeding and I had no idea what happened. My mind was racing, I had a head injury and i was in flipping Thailand. Jack being the nice guy that he is went with Mimi's friend (who was suffering from whiplash) to the hospital. The apramedic's checked me out and it was just a cut on the back of my head so I was alright. The police did want me to go the hospital though so we waited for one of Mimi's friends to arrive and bring us. I decided to forego the stitchesand just get it cleaned. We got home around 5ish
easy to say it was a LONG day.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
photos
uploading pics to this blog is a pain in the ass
so im uploading to facebook so looker there for photographic evidence that im enjoying myself, also check out Jack's pics if you can - he has a much more betterer camera so he has more than me.
peace out boy scouts
so im uploading to facebook so looker there for photographic evidence that im enjoying myself, also check out Jack's pics if you can - he has a much more betterer camera so he has more than me.
peace out boy scouts
Saturday 14th, Part Two
When I last left you I was stuc in Heathrow. I ended up chatting an Aussie named Mitch, a real coolguy that heading back to Sydney via Bangkok after traveling for a few months. The flight was alright I struggled to stay awake through dinner, but I was out like a light after that. I watched Bodies of Lies - real good -. Jack met me at the airport and out trip was off to a START.
Jack told me we were heading to Huay Kwang (just outside of downtown BK) to our couchsurfing host's apartment. After stopping @ Mimi's, we hit the streets. Getting some food at a little shop, enjoying some beers and oh I touched an elephant! The markets were pretty crazy even at that hour (midnight or so) everyone peddling their chinsy goods. Jack has a new found obsessionwith fake RayBans. Since jack picked up the cab from the airport, I got dinner & beers for about 200 baht ($5). Around 1:30am we took a tuk-tuk back to the apartment. a tuk tuk is a motorcycle with two bench seats attached on the back. crazy, but fun.
My first impressions of Thailand:
hot as balls - no i mean litterally hot all the time
Bangkok is definitely a city that never sleeps
Jack told me we were heading to Huay Kwang (just outside of downtown BK) to our couchsurfing host's apartment. After stopping @ Mimi's, we hit the streets. Getting some food at a little shop, enjoying some beers and oh I touched an elephant! The markets were pretty crazy even at that hour (midnight or so) everyone peddling their chinsy goods. Jack has a new found obsessionwith fake RayBans. Since jack picked up the cab from the airport, I got dinner & beers for about 200 baht ($5). Around 1:30am we took a tuk-tuk back to the apartment. a tuk tuk is a motorcycle with two bench seats attached on the back. crazy, but fun.
My first impressions of Thailand:
hot as balls - no i mean litterally hot all the time
Bangkok is definitely a city that never sleeps
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentines Day massacre
Saturday, 14th
oohhhh valentines day!
For a reasonably intelligent human being it took me entirely took long to get out of Heathrow, but i'm prety much and expert now. I was able to store my big bag at the terminal so I didn't have that weighing me down all day. After spending the better half of the morning in the tubes I emmerged at the london bridge, it was so energizing to be outside in a new country. SIDE NOTE: Val - Pret A Mangers are everywhere. I went as far East as i wanted to and got some hopefully great shots of the tower of london, the bridge and these cool buildings on the water. I made my way west back towards the airport and stopped at Parliment, big ben, westminister abby and saw the Royal Calvary. I was told that Big Ben isn't the clock but the actual bell, although now that i actually write that down - im gonna call BS on that.
the tubes are pretty easy to navigate ( about as easy as the metro, but with better coverage) I was getting cold and tired so i headed back to the airport. gathered my junk, helped a mom and her kid get to terminal 4 (the long-haul international flights) and went to the counter to check in. So at about 9 i should be getting in the air on my way to bangkok (landing at 5pm Sunday evening) welllllllll I said should. actually my flight is delayed 5 hours so thats why i get to be online typing away. I won't leave until 2:30 am Sunday morning landing at (i think) 10 pm sunday night
i have no idea, these time zones and 24 hour time is killing me.
wish me luck!
oohhhh valentines day!
For a reasonably intelligent human being it took me entirely took long to get out of Heathrow, but i'm prety much and expert now. I was able to store my big bag at the terminal so I didn't have that weighing me down all day. After spending the better half of the morning in the tubes I emmerged at the london bridge, it was so energizing to be outside in a new country. SIDE NOTE: Val - Pret A Mangers are everywhere. I went as far East as i wanted to and got some hopefully great shots of the tower of london, the bridge and these cool buildings on the water. I made my way west back towards the airport and stopped at Parliment, big ben, westminister abby and saw the Royal Calvary. I was told that Big Ben isn't the clock but the actual bell, although now that i actually write that down - im gonna call BS on that.
the tubes are pretty easy to navigate ( about as easy as the metro, but with better coverage) I was getting cold and tired so i headed back to the airport. gathered my junk, helped a mom and her kid get to terminal 4 (the long-haul international flights) and went to the counter to check in. So at about 9 i should be getting in the air on my way to bangkok (landing at 5pm Sunday evening) welllllllll I said should. actually my flight is delayed 5 hours so thats why i get to be online typing away. I won't leave until 2:30 am Sunday morning landing at (i think) 10 pm sunday night
i have no idea, these time zones and 24 hour time is killing me.
wish me luck!
Friday 13th, 2009
So here we are at Dulles, as ready as I'll ever be. I decided to not leave my bag in the custody of the airport so I'll be draggin it around London - I'll report back on how that works out. Considering my brain has been trying to be in a million places at once, I only forgot one thing (my hat) - not too bad for this guy.
15 minutes through security and I Have probably checked for my phone 20 times. Kinda sad when you think about it. I guess thats why I'm so anxious to get my international cell up and running. SIDE NOTE: thank you Theresa for my awesome journal, your pen sucked though so now i get to use and awesome $4 Obama pen. As I made my way through the British Airways concourse there are kids playing socceerrr.....I mean futbol. And that is where this portion of the story ends, I'm in Nelson's food & spirits, getting my ESPN fix and eavesdropping on the British kids.
p.s. Ben - one of these kids looks exactly like Jonah from Summer Heights High, I shit you not miss
Ok so the flight was uneventful, food was as to be expected, I had to sit next to an old lady and she was annoying, she took up two seats so that she could lie down and sleep (not a problem) but she kept kicking me and hitting her light on with her head , also her vegetarian meal smelled gross. i did get to watch Eagle Eye - I thought it was pretty good. needless to say I was ready to hit the streets once we landed.
Reed - Out
15 minutes through security and I Have probably checked for my phone 20 times. Kinda sad when you think about it. I guess thats why I'm so anxious to get my international cell up and running. SIDE NOTE: thank you Theresa for my awesome journal, your pen sucked though so now i get to use and awesome $4 Obama pen. As I made my way through the British Airways concourse there are kids playing socceerrr.....I mean futbol. And that is where this portion of the story ends, I'm in Nelson's food & spirits, getting my ESPN fix and eavesdropping on the British kids.
p.s. Ben - one of these kids looks exactly like Jonah from Summer Heights High, I shit you not miss
Ok so the flight was uneventful, food was as to be expected, I had to sit next to an old lady and she was annoying, she took up two seats so that she could lie down and sleep (not a problem) but she kept kicking me and hitting her light on with her head , also her vegetarian meal smelled gross. i did get to watch Eagle Eye - I thought it was pretty good. needless to say I was ready to hit the streets once we landed.
Reed - Out
Monday, February 9, 2009
5 days!
Hey guys - I've decided to create a blog to help you guys keep tabs on me and to help me document my little sabbatical.
Here is the closest thing I've got to a schedule.
Friday, February 13: Leave for London (yes I know, not Saturday like I thought, I am SMART)
Saturday, February 14: Leave for Bangkok
Thursday, March 12: Leave for Tel Aviv
Wednesday, March 18: Leave for Dublin
Tuesday, March 24: Leave for U.S.
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