Nov 23, 24, 25th.
It will officially take me over 50 hours from Bangkok to Rio. Unbelievable.
We left Bangkok at11:55pm local time (11:55am East coast time) on Monday. We boarded the plane and were very tired. I set my watch to Tokyo time (which is supposed to help with jetlag). We were just about ready to fall asleep when the flight attendant announced that dinner would be served. At this point it was 12:30am Bangkok time and 2:30am Tokyo time. Unsure what time it really was, and since we were unsure if we’d be getting another meal we decided to take what was given to us. I had chicken cordon blue which was pretty good. It was served with potato salad and olives. It was quite tasty. Dessert was vanilla ice cream. With our stomach full and our bodies confused with the time we both fell asleep. The flight wasn’t too bad. I slept most of the time. We arrived in Tokyo at 7:30am.
We killed time by walking around the airport. We checked out all of the duty free shops and tried to get small gift ideas. I grabbed Starbucks and we went to the gate and waited to be allowed on the plane for our next flight.
We left Tokyo at 11am on Tuesday for a 12 hour flight to the states. This flight was interesting. The first class and business class had almost no one in it. There were probably 50 priority seats and a total of 5 people in them. Coach on the other hand was much more full. Jess and I lucked out because we were sitting in a row with three seats and the lady in the isle seat decided to move to the back of the plane. I was very pleased. The unfortunate part of the flight was the fact that we were surrounded by children. Right across from us was a baby less than 6 months old. Behind us we had two boys, probably 2 and 4 years old. The two year old was definitely going though his terrible two’s because he screamed the whole flight and the two boys kicked our seats the whole time. The parents didn’t seem to care, and despite our dirty looks and loud sighs, let the boys continue behave poorly. Since it was so early we decided that we should have mimosas to start our flight off on the right note. The alcohol was exactly what I needed to drowned out the sound of the annoying kids and help me pass out. I slept for a few hours, but woke up and my body was simply confused. I had adjusted my watch again when we got on the plane so I was trying to sleep most of the flight since it was the early morning hours, but seemed to wake up a lot. I watched a couple movies (it has been really nice that all of our ANA flights have had personal TV’s built into the seats) and the time passed relatively quickly as I drifted in and out of sleep. The flight attendants served breakfast at 7am which consisted of egg and hot dog. Hot dogs are huge in Asia, I’ve seen them filled with everything from cheese to various meats. I am very glad to be over my “dog-dog” stage and didn’t have the slightest desire to try a hot dog at any point during our time in Asia. We arrived in Washington’s Dullas airport at 9:45am Tuesday morning- funny how we could do all that traveling and arrive an hour EARLIER than when we left, the international date line is always so confusing for me!
Jess and I had planned on having about 3 hours together in Washington in which time we could settle up money that we owed each other, use the internet and Jess could give me a crash course on Spanish. As we walked off the plane we were disappointed that we had to separate since Jess and a connecting flight and my final destination with ANA was Dullas, at which point I switch to American Airlines to start my South American leg of the journey. Jess and I said our goodbyes quickly and were separated. I went through customs and gathered my backpack and carryon’s and breezed through customs. The customs officials yelled at the Japanese people behind me for not following the rules and waiting behind the yellow line. The Asias didn’t understand and it caused quite a commotion. It was my first “ahhh” moment. It was nice to be home where people spoke English and I understand how things work. As I walked myself towards the American Airlines counter the realization of traveling alone started to set in. I had to go to the bathroom and quickly remembered how annoying it is to drag all of your belongings in with you. I had plenty of time to kill so my first mission was to find a hotel or shower serve in the airport and freshen up. I quickly learned that didn’t exist so I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, washed my face and change my clothes. Feeling better I decided to check in and kill time inside the airport.
I was able to find a monitor and use process of elimination to find Jess’s gate number. Since I am flying to Miami before I leave for Rio I was in the domestic area of the airport. I jumped the tram and rode across several runways towards the building Jess was in. As I was getting off of the tram an older gentleman came up to be and told me that my “traveling the world” shirt was the most creative idea that he has seen. He was very impressed. He said that he had friends who may be interested in seeing my resume. I gave him one of my business cards and he said that he will be in touch later today. I was excited, let’s hope something comes from it! I found Jess at the gate and surprised her. Both of us are so jetlagged that we don’t know if we’re coming or going the look on her face was priceless when I sat down next to her.
I was relieved that she made it through customs with no problem since she put my suitcase under her name. Bringing boot legged DVD’s into the country is not really encouraged by US officials so I was glad they didn’t give her any trouble. We had just over an hour together before Jess departed. I took the tram to the section of the airport where my flight was leaving from and paid the $6 fee to get 24 hour internet access. I got updated on posting my blog and pictures and made a few skype calls to kill some time before my flight to Miami.
The flight from DC to Miami is three hours and was supposed to leave at 3:15pm, but of course ended up leaving 15 minutes late. The flight was packed. It is very clear that I am traveling on one of the busiest days of the year. People flock in all directions with talk of Thanksgiving plans. I did manage to luck out somehow and literally the ONLY empty set on the plane was next to me.
Miami was quite an experience. I had planned on going to Bayside, an outdoor shopping area with all sorts of neat shops and restaurants. I had hoped to have dinner here, pick up a few things that I need and hoped to meet my friend Hilary from Semester at Sea. My arrived in Miami early, but the gate that we needed to pull into was occupied to we waited and waited for the plane to leave so we could pull in. I really doing like Miami airport, I think its poorly laid out. I walked from one side of the other just to get outside the terminal. I stopped at the American Airlines desk to try to change my flight (I am currently scheduled to return to the US on Dec 21, but need to get it switched to Dec 24th because my Amazon and Machu Picchu trip will go until the 23rd) only to spend a long time on hold and learn that it’s a $200 fee to switch the ticket plus the additional difference in price between what I paid and the current price of the ticket. This is all very contrary to what STA told me when I booked the Machu Picchu trip with them, if that was the case I probably wouldn’t have booked it. I guess I will be needing to get in touch with them at some point in the near future. I still had more than 3 hours to kill and I had planned to jump on the local bus to Bayside. I asked information and they didn’t think that I’d have enough time to take the local bus and said the only way it would be possible would be to take the Super Shuttle or a taxi. The Super Shuttle cost $21 and a taxi minimum of $25-$30. Disappointed I decided that it wasn’t worth the $40-$60 to get there and buy dinner and a drink. The next thing I needed to do was get intenet access to skype or email. It was at this point that I discovered that Miami doesn’t have wireless internet, or if they do its NOT easy to get on. I played around for at least an hour to try to get online (I was even willing to pay for it) but had no luck. I was really disappointed and annoyed and felt horrible for breaking my plans with Hillary and having no way to contact her. Even if I could call her, I still would have needed internet to get her numbe. I was also annoyed that I had so much time to kill and would have loved to catch up with my friends on Skype if I had to be stuck in the airport, no such luck.
The plane from Miami to Rio boarded at 11:30pm. I was basically falling asleep in the terminal at this point. I kept setting my ipod alarm because I was nervous that I’d fall asleep and miss the flight. I luckily had a window seat on this flight and as soon as we could board got myself situated. A Brazilian woman sat down next to me. People were still filing onto the plane but my eyes were so heavy that I fell asleep before we even left the gate. I woke up briefly as the plane was taking off. The Brazilian woman disappeared by this point, which was wonderful. I sprawled out and quickly fell back asleep. I was woken at 12:30am by the flight attendant who had to ask me three times if I was Brazilian or a foreigner before I could process the question in my groggy state. He gave me the appropriate customs papers which I threw in my bag and fell back asleep. I was woken up again at 1am with the question “beef or chicken?” I was so shocked that I quickly answered beef, even though I wasn’t hungry and only wanted to sleep. I have been so confused about the meals on every plane that we have been on. I realize that it’s a long flight, but they serve dinner at the handsomest times. In Miami (where we left from) it was 1am and Rio (where we were heading) it was 4am. Who would ever want dinner at those times? I fell back asleep and woke up at 8am. I couldn’t sleep anymore for some reason so I did some reading to pass the time.
We arrived in Rio at 10:45am. My bag was of course the last one to come through at baggage claim which gave me a heart attack. But I was so relieved to be leaving the airport at that point that I didn’t even care!
That’s all for now.
Love,
Katie
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
I WILL Be Back Asia!
Nov 22nd
Today unfortunately was our last day in Bangkok. Oliver surprised us and met us at our hostel this morning. We walked around with him for a while and the three of us got some lunch. Afterwards Jess and I went to BKM shopping center which is a huge mall with 5 or 6 floors with stores selling everything; perfume, name brand clothing, shoes, bags and fake stuff too. The best part about it is that even though they are stores you can bargain because everything is fake. I still don’t quite understand how this is possible since whenever the police come around everything closes up really quickly.
We went back to the hostel and spend a couple hours killing time. I had to buy a small suitcase which Jess offered to take home with her for me. I am so luckily that she offered to do this, its probably saving me $100 worth of shipping charges. I bought a few gifts for people, and a few things for myself. I am really excited about my suitcase purchase because its one of the new ones that the wheels rotate in all directions. I love it! I also bought a “dry-bag” which is very handy when scuba diving or doing water activities like kayaking, I got a really good deal.
We had our last Thai dinner and grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. We took a mini bus which was $100 baht (approx $3USD). The bus was old and rickety and sat 12 people, of course they would squeeze all 12 people in the van. I was again very worried about the luggage which all went onto of the van. The diver even had to jump on top of the van to arrange everything and tie it down.
We had a couple hours to kill at the airport so we killed time by walking around, getting a few small last minute items, and changed out money. We both loved Thailand and all of Asia so much. We’re sad to be leaving. I wish Jess didn’t have to go home and that we could travel together a little longer. It will take a total of 45 hours from the time my flight departs Bangkok until I arrive in Rio, it’s going to be a long couple of days for me.
Bye for now.
Love,
Katie
Today unfortunately was our last day in Bangkok. Oliver surprised us and met us at our hostel this morning. We walked around with him for a while and the three of us got some lunch. Afterwards Jess and I went to BKM shopping center which is a huge mall with 5 or 6 floors with stores selling everything; perfume, name brand clothing, shoes, bags and fake stuff too. The best part about it is that even though they are stores you can bargain because everything is fake. I still don’t quite understand how this is possible since whenever the police come around everything closes up really quickly.
We went back to the hostel and spend a couple hours killing time. I had to buy a small suitcase which Jess offered to take home with her for me. I am so luckily that she offered to do this, its probably saving me $100 worth of shipping charges. I bought a few gifts for people, and a few things for myself. I am really excited about my suitcase purchase because its one of the new ones that the wheels rotate in all directions. I love it! I also bought a “dry-bag” which is very handy when scuba diving or doing water activities like kayaking, I got a really good deal.
We had our last Thai dinner and grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. We took a mini bus which was $100 baht (approx $3USD). The bus was old and rickety and sat 12 people, of course they would squeeze all 12 people in the van. I was again very worried about the luggage which all went onto of the van. The diver even had to jump on top of the van to arrange everything and tie it down.
We had a couple hours to kill at the airport so we killed time by walking around, getting a few small last minute items, and changed out money. We both loved Thailand and all of Asia so much. We’re sad to be leaving. I wish Jess didn’t have to go home and that we could travel together a little longer. It will take a total of 45 hours from the time my flight departs Bangkok until I arrive in Rio, it’s going to be a long couple of days for me.
Bye for now.
Love,
Katie
Floating Down the Canal of Life...
Nov 22nd
This morning we woke up really early to go to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market which is a two hour bus ride west of Bangkok. Floating markets used to be very popular in Thailand but not so much any more. We were told there are only a few true floating markets left, and many of them are for the tourists, to show them the old traditional ways of selling various goods from small boats.
It was definitely something that Jess and I have wanted to check out the whole trip. Along the river and the canals there are many old traditional Thai houses on stilts. The bus from Bangkok only cost us 140 baht round trip ($4.30). We hired a boat and a driver at one of the side canals for 400 baht, and we’re taken around the market for almost 1.5 hours. Some people have little shops set up along the river while others, mostly old ladies, sell fruit, vegetables, Pad Thai, sticky rice, drinks, etc. from their own small boats and paddle up and down the market. Some of the boats even made soups and other noodle dishes and were like little restaurants, so cool! The market was pretty busy, and there were even many traffic jams on the river! I found it really funny when someone wanted to sell us something they would use this long wooden hook to reach out and grab the edge of our boat and pull the two boats together. The floating market is only open in the morning from 7-12pm, and we were there at the busiest time. It was a lot of fun floating down the market and trying to bargain from the boat. Some of the stuff was overpriced but then again it is a tourist hot spot. We had some great sticky rice and mango with coconut milk- its become one of our favorite things here!
After our boat ride was over we wondered around some of the shops and we also went to a coconut sugar plantation/factory. We tried this really sweet coconut and honey candy that was delicious, I wish I could bring some home, but don’t think it will make it.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Kao San area and relaxing before going out and enjoying out last night in Bangkok. Jess got Chivcken on a stick for dinner and I had Pad Thai. We both got sticky rice and mango again for dessert, we cant seem to get enough.
Jess and I decided to go all out to celebrate our last night in Bangkok and the end of our trip together. We went out and met some really nice guys from Brazil and hung out with them at one of the street bars and we all went dancing together! While we were at the street bar two little kids, an 11 year old girl and her 6 year old brother came up to us trying to sell us roses. There were about 20 little children that we saw going up to tourists in restaurants and bars trying to sell them roses and souvenirs. I couldn’t believe how young they are and that they are out so late!! But I do have to say they are very persuasive and would make great business people, its just too sad that they have to do this instead of sleeping and going to school. They all speak English well and come up to you and put a 100 baht bill on the table and say things like lets thumb war, if you win you get the 100 baht if you lose you give me 100 baht and buy a rose. Or they would go up to the boys “pretty roses for your pretty roses”. They were very persistent and didn’t leave you alone until you bought something, and they almost always won the thumb wars (mostly because they cheated, but who is really going to accuse a little kid of cheating)!
Later we happened to bump into Oliver and Marios, two guys we met in Phi Phi and hung out with them for the rest of the night. By the time we headed back to our hotel it was almost 3am, and there were still children out on the streets selling their roses! Most of the vendors were gone and the bars closed, but the few that were open were swamped with hungry drunk tourists, they must make a killing because the street was definitely a hot spot for backpackers who were drinking until all hours of the night.
Time for me to go to bed!
Love,
Katie.
This morning we woke up really early to go to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market which is a two hour bus ride west of Bangkok. Floating markets used to be very popular in Thailand but not so much any more. We were told there are only a few true floating markets left, and many of them are for the tourists, to show them the old traditional ways of selling various goods from small boats.
It was definitely something that Jess and I have wanted to check out the whole trip. Along the river and the canals there are many old traditional Thai houses on stilts. The bus from Bangkok only cost us 140 baht round trip ($4.30). We hired a boat and a driver at one of the side canals for 400 baht, and we’re taken around the market for almost 1.5 hours. Some people have little shops set up along the river while others, mostly old ladies, sell fruit, vegetables, Pad Thai, sticky rice, drinks, etc. from their own small boats and paddle up and down the market. Some of the boats even made soups and other noodle dishes and were like little restaurants, so cool! The market was pretty busy, and there were even many traffic jams on the river! I found it really funny when someone wanted to sell us something they would use this long wooden hook to reach out and grab the edge of our boat and pull the two boats together. The floating market is only open in the morning from 7-12pm, and we were there at the busiest time. It was a lot of fun floating down the market and trying to bargain from the boat. Some of the stuff was overpriced but then again it is a tourist hot spot. We had some great sticky rice and mango with coconut milk- its become one of our favorite things here!
After our boat ride was over we wondered around some of the shops and we also went to a coconut sugar plantation/factory. We tried this really sweet coconut and honey candy that was delicious, I wish I could bring some home, but don’t think it will make it.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Kao San area and relaxing before going out and enjoying out last night in Bangkok. Jess got Chivcken on a stick for dinner and I had Pad Thai. We both got sticky rice and mango again for dessert, we cant seem to get enough.
Jess and I decided to go all out to celebrate our last night in Bangkok and the end of our trip together. We went out and met some really nice guys from Brazil and hung out with them at one of the street bars and we all went dancing together! While we were at the street bar two little kids, an 11 year old girl and her 6 year old brother came up to us trying to sell us roses. There were about 20 little children that we saw going up to tourists in restaurants and bars trying to sell them roses and souvenirs. I couldn’t believe how young they are and that they are out so late!! But I do have to say they are very persuasive and would make great business people, its just too sad that they have to do this instead of sleeping and going to school. They all speak English well and come up to you and put a 100 baht bill on the table and say things like lets thumb war, if you win you get the 100 baht if you lose you give me 100 baht and buy a rose. Or they would go up to the boys “pretty roses for your pretty roses”. They were very persistent and didn’t leave you alone until you bought something, and they almost always won the thumb wars (mostly because they cheated, but who is really going to accuse a little kid of cheating)!
Later we happened to bump into Oliver and Marios, two guys we met in Phi Phi and hung out with them for the rest of the night. By the time we headed back to our hotel it was almost 3am, and there were still children out on the streets selling their roses! Most of the vendors were gone and the bars closed, but the few that were open were swamped with hungry drunk tourists, they must make a killing because the street was definitely a hot spot for backpackers who were drinking until all hours of the night.
Time for me to go to bed!
Love,
Katie.
A Day wth Air!
We met Jess’s friend Air this morning at 10am. Air was an exchange student from Thailand who Jess was friends with in high school. She was excited to see him, and he instantly became our personal tour guide for the day. We got to ask him tons of questions and it was nice to have someone fluent in both English and Thai.
(Khao San Road- where we're staying)
Our first stop was at the Grand Palace, we were glad that we were actually made it inside this time. The Grand Palace is beautiful with tiny details and lots of gold and shiny tiles. It was built in 1782 and has both Western and European style to it. The Grand Palace was once home of the King but now it houses government offices, temples and a meeting hall where the King has conferences with World leaders. The grounds cover 218,000 square meters and are surrounded by 4 walls. Inside there are temples and the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha.
After this we took a ferry boat for 3 baht and crossed the river, which took a couple minutes. On the west side of the river is Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn). The Temple has the steepest stairs ever, but it was worth the climb because the views of the river and the city were spectacular. The scariest part was walking down, I was sure I was going to fall and tumble hundreds of feet to my death. Luckily, I gripped the railing with all of my might and made it to the bottom safely.
We took the ferry back across the rivet and had lunch near Air’s university. He showed us his University and the building where all his classes are held. I was impressed with how modern the facilities and buildings were!
We had some time to kill so I decided to get my fortune read for $3USD. I was told that I was going to be very successful by age 27 and own my own business, that I would be married at 28 or 29. I will have a boyfriend in April. Although he thought I didn’t have the best luck with love (great- just my luck). He also thinks that I will only have one child. My parents and family will be health. I will be health. I’m a faithful partner, but a past love hasn’t been faithful to me that really hurt me. My work will involve travel. I will meet my husband through travel and/or work. I thought he was pretty accurate about most things that have happened in the past, lets keep my figures crossed that he was right about how much money I will be making!
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Weekend Market called the Chatuchak Market. It’s even bigger than the night market that we visited the night before. It was very overwhelming, especially in the hot weather. People at the market had maps just so they could find their way around! I bought a few last minute things that I’ve been looking for. I’m not sure when I’ll be back to Asia (hopefully sooner rather than later), so I needed to stock up on a few handbags and wallets!
On the way back towards our hostel we made a quick stop at the hospital because the rash on my back is still horrible. This hospital visit went much quicker than Jess’s experience in Patong. It really helped to have Air with us to translate! The doctor wasn’t sure what caused the rash but seemed to think that a lot of it has to do with my backpack. She prescribed a strong prescription strength antihistamine and some special cream for me.
We headed back over to the Kao San area and had a Thai dinner. Afterwards we had to say goodbye to Air. He was really great to spend the whole day and he even insisted ton paying for dinner and our bus and ferry tickets. What a great guy! Jess and I walked around Kao San road and did a little more shopping, of course! We finally were able to haggle with someone and get DVD’s for 50 baht ($1.60)! Everyone is selling them for 100 baht ($3.30), and wouldn’t go lower than 60 baht. We had originally said no to this mans price of 55 baht and walked away. But minutes later, when we were half way down the street, he came running up to us and offered them at 50 baht each. We spent the rest of the night picking out DVD’s and testing them out to make sure they were good quality. Most of them were actually really good quality except some of the ones that ate still in the theaters. Its quite obvious that someone sat inside a theater and recorded it with a video recorder. We still paid more than we did for the ones in Indonesia, which were about 80 cents each, but what can you do?
That’s all for now.
Love,
Katie
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuk-Tukking Around Bangkok
Nov 20th
We got up at 6:30am to grab a 7am taxi to the airport. After checking in we saw a Dunkin Donuts which seem to be everywhere in Asia (except Japan) . We have glancing at the menu at several different locations and have been shocked that they don’t really have coffee- only espresso and cappuccino. Also, many of the locations have an extensive sandwich menu. Regardless, we were both hungry so we grabbed donuts. I had a Boston Cream (my favorite) that was in the shape of a teddy bear and called something like a “forget me not.” The plane ride was painless. I fell asleep approximately two minutes after I was seated with my seatbelt securely fastened and didn’t wake up until we were got back on the ground. We took an airport shuttle bus to the road our hostel is on , Kao San Road This road is filled of hostels and budget guesthouses for backpackers, as well as hundreds of street vendors selling everything from DVDs, knockoff bags, clothes and even fake international I.D. Cards. I am tempted to buy an international press card and try to use it- perhaps I can get myself into concerts and go backstage? There are also dozens of massage parlors, bars and restaurants too.
We had lunch at a little sidewalk restaurant. Vendors with push carts line the roads and sidewalks and set up little folding tables and chairs for people to eat at. The side walk literally becomes a restaurant. All the food is really cheap and delicious! I had a big plate of chicken pad thai for only 30 baht ($1.00 USD). Have I mentioned how cheap Thailand is?
All the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers park and hang out at the end of Kao San road, and nag every tourist as they walk by. One man was nice enough to help us find our hostel earlier and approached us again offering to give us an hour long tour and take us to a few of the major sites for only 40 baht ($1.30). We thought this was a good deal especially because it was faster than walking. Off course there was a catch, there’s always a catch! After seeing Wat Po, the famous big Buddha, 45 meter tall, he took us to silk factory and also to a jewelry/souvenir shop. He told us that if he takes us there he gets coupons for gas, and he gets double if we buy something. Of course we knew immediately that we were being ripped off and the prices were outrageously overpriced so we didn’t get anything. The silk factory was pretty cool, and anyone can get custom made clothing, tailored to fit you perfectly! They had beautiful dresses and lots of suits, which I would love to get because I am going to need business professional clothing in just a few months. At this tourist trap the price was still quite expensive, 4,000-10,000 baht ($135-335).
After this our tuk tuk driver brought us to the Grande Palace. In order to go inside you must have your arms and legs covered, no tank tops or skirts, not even capri’s! You could borrow clothes if you needed to, long pants for men and sarongs for women. I was dressed okay, I had Capri yoga pants on, but if I pulled them down enough they were fine. Jess needed to get some kind of long skirt to cover her legs but of course they ran out right when we got to the front of the line! We decided not to wait and that we’d go back tomorrow with Jess’s friend Air, who is going to meet up with us tomorrow and will be able to tell us more about the Grand Palace anyways. When we got outside we couldn’t find out tuk-tuk driver anywhere, we searched for 15 minutes then finally gave up and walked back to the hostel. We never ended up paying him but he did get his gas coupons, perhaps that was more valuable to him than the $40Baht- I guess we’ll never know.
We haven’t had sushi in almost a week and we were craving it so we decided to check out an area called Little Tokyo. It is full of Japanese and sushi restaurants. All of them are way over priced, but we found one that wasn’t too expensive. After the this we walked through Lumphini park and went to to the Suan Lam Night Market, The nigh market is huge and they sell maps just for the market because it’s that big! It was the typical market just like we saw in China and everywhere else, also a lot of the same stuff that the vendors on Kao San Road sell, but we bargained and got some great deals!
Tomorrow we are meeting Air in the morning and he has offered to show us around and be our tour guide for the day! My back is still very itchy and I was advised not to eat any raw sushi since I may have a parasite that is preventing the rash from healing. Perhaps if I had this information 2 hours earlier I wouldn’t have gotten sushi for dinner, but that’s just life.
Love,
Katie
We got up at 6:30am to grab a 7am taxi to the airport. After checking in we saw a Dunkin Donuts which seem to be everywhere in Asia (except Japan) . We have glancing at the menu at several different locations and have been shocked that they don’t really have coffee- only espresso and cappuccino. Also, many of the locations have an extensive sandwich menu. Regardless, we were both hungry so we grabbed donuts. I had a Boston Cream (my favorite) that was in the shape of a teddy bear and called something like a “forget me not.” The plane ride was painless. I fell asleep approximately two minutes after I was seated with my seatbelt securely fastened and didn’t wake up until we were got back on the ground. We took an airport shuttle bus to the road our hostel is on , Kao San Road This road is filled of hostels and budget guesthouses for backpackers, as well as hundreds of street vendors selling everything from DVDs, knockoff bags, clothes and even fake international I.D. Cards. I am tempted to buy an international press card and try to use it- perhaps I can get myself into concerts and go backstage? There are also dozens of massage parlors, bars and restaurants too.
We had lunch at a little sidewalk restaurant. Vendors with push carts line the roads and sidewalks and set up little folding tables and chairs for people to eat at. The side walk literally becomes a restaurant. All the food is really cheap and delicious! I had a big plate of chicken pad thai for only 30 baht ($1.00 USD). Have I mentioned how cheap Thailand is?
All the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers park and hang out at the end of Kao San road, and nag every tourist as they walk by. One man was nice enough to help us find our hostel earlier and approached us again offering to give us an hour long tour and take us to a few of the major sites for only 40 baht ($1.30). We thought this was a good deal especially because it was faster than walking. Off course there was a catch, there’s always a catch! After seeing Wat Po, the famous big Buddha, 45 meter tall, he took us to silk factory and also to a jewelry/souvenir shop. He told us that if he takes us there he gets coupons for gas, and he gets double if we buy something. Of course we knew immediately that we were being ripped off and the prices were outrageously overpriced so we didn’t get anything. The silk factory was pretty cool, and anyone can get custom made clothing, tailored to fit you perfectly! They had beautiful dresses and lots of suits, which I would love to get because I am going to need business professional clothing in just a few months. At this tourist trap the price was still quite expensive, 4,000-10,000 baht ($135-335).
After this our tuk tuk driver brought us to the Grande Palace. In order to go inside you must have your arms and legs covered, no tank tops or skirts, not even capri’s! You could borrow clothes if you needed to, long pants for men and sarongs for women. I was dressed okay, I had Capri yoga pants on, but if I pulled them down enough they were fine. Jess needed to get some kind of long skirt to cover her legs but of course they ran out right when we got to the front of the line! We decided not to wait and that we’d go back tomorrow with Jess’s friend Air, who is going to meet up with us tomorrow and will be able to tell us more about the Grand Palace anyways. When we got outside we couldn’t find out tuk-tuk driver anywhere, we searched for 15 minutes then finally gave up and walked back to the hostel. We never ended up paying him but he did get his gas coupons, perhaps that was more valuable to him than the $40Baht- I guess we’ll never know.
We haven’t had sushi in almost a week and we were craving it so we decided to check out an area called Little Tokyo. It is full of Japanese and sushi restaurants. All of them are way over priced, but we found one that wasn’t too expensive. After the this we walked through Lumphini park and went to to the Suan Lam Night Market, The nigh market is huge and they sell maps just for the market because it’s that big! It was the typical market just like we saw in China and everywhere else, also a lot of the same stuff that the vendors on Kao San Road sell, but we bargained and got some great deals!
Tomorrow we are meeting Air in the morning and he has offered to show us around and be our tour guide for the day! My back is still very itchy and I was advised not to eat any raw sushi since I may have a parasite that is preventing the rash from healing. Perhaps if I had this information 2 hours earlier I wouldn’t have gotten sushi for dinner, but that’s just life.
Love,
Katie
Itch’in to get to Bangkok
Nov 19th
We woke up at 10am this morning, even though we both could have slept a few more hours but needed to be out of the room by 11am. We packed our bags and checked out of our hotel with only minute to spare. After, we went to the pier and got the information that we needed for our return ferry back to Phuket. We had about 2 hours to kill before we needed to get on the ferry so we grabbed some lunch. Phi Phi Dom has a couple of book stores on the island where you can trade in your old book and use the credit to buy a new one. I had finished my book a few days ago and traded with Jess. She has some serious reading time while I was scuba diving and had finished my book so she traded it in and got a new one for herself. We still had over an hour to kill so we decided to get manicures and pedicures. It feels nice to have some new polish! We got both a manicure and pedicure for $11USD each. It was nice to be out of the hot sun and in the AC. I even fell asleep for a while.
The ferry ride was much smoother than the ride over had been. I used the time to get updated on my blog. We met an Iranian guy on the boat who was traveling with 10 or 12 other friends (all seem to be from middle-eastern descent). A few of them live with their families in the states, so we had fun talking with them. They were spending the night in Phuket and heading to Bangkok as well so hopefully we will meet up with them before the trip is over. They were staying at Patong Beach and we were staying in Phuket Town which aren’t exactly close, so hopefully once we all get to Bangkok we can meet somewhere.
Jess and I had a voucher that we had previously bought for a shuttle to Phuket town. Once we got off of the ferry there was someone waiting who took us directly to our hotel which was nice. The hotel staff were all very friendly and super helpful! We had originally planned on trying to meet up with our Iranian friends and see an elephant and Lady-Boy show called “Fanta-Sea,” but of course there wasn’t a show on that particular night. The hotel staff found out that there is a similar show in Bangkok and got all of the information and wrote it down for us.
We dropped our bags in the room and decided to check out Phuket town. We were a little disappointed, there wasn’t much to see or do there besides see the old mansions which are scattered throughout to town, but aren’t open to tourists and have “private property” signs everywhere. We hopped in a taxi and decided to go to the mall since that was the only place around with a sushi restaurant. We checked it out, but it was SO SO SO overpriced. We found a Sizzler (an American chain that doesn’t exist in the North East) that have a wonderful looking salad bar. We both have felt veggie deprived so we decided to go salad crazy! We each got two big salads with all sorts of good stuff.
After dinner we walked around the mall for a bit. Like I had mentioned before I had burnt my back while I was in Bali, and now the skin has started to peel which looks awful. I have been on the lookout for a loofa or some kind of body scrubber to try to get the dead skin off for days, and finally found on at a pharmacy at the mall.
We were both tired after a long day of traveling so we went back to the room to shower and get ready for our early morning departure. I had been complaining all day about my back being itchy, but had assumed that it had something to do with the fact that I had dead skin that was flaking off. I was excited to finally use the loofa! When I got undressed and looked in the mirror I was horrified. I have the worst rash that I’ve ever had in my life had spread all over my back. Its so red and raw and SOOOOO itchy. After my shower Jess rubbed me down with hydro-cortisone cream, but not much seems to be helping. I might ended up scratching my skin off before too long.
Well off to bed.
Love,
Katie
We woke up at 10am this morning, even though we both could have slept a few more hours but needed to be out of the room by 11am. We packed our bags and checked out of our hotel with only minute to spare. After, we went to the pier and got the information that we needed for our return ferry back to Phuket. We had about 2 hours to kill before we needed to get on the ferry so we grabbed some lunch. Phi Phi Dom has a couple of book stores on the island where you can trade in your old book and use the credit to buy a new one. I had finished my book a few days ago and traded with Jess. She has some serious reading time while I was scuba diving and had finished my book so she traded it in and got a new one for herself. We still had over an hour to kill so we decided to get manicures and pedicures. It feels nice to have some new polish! We got both a manicure and pedicure for $11USD each. It was nice to be out of the hot sun and in the AC. I even fell asleep for a while.
The ferry ride was much smoother than the ride over had been. I used the time to get updated on my blog. We met an Iranian guy on the boat who was traveling with 10 or 12 other friends (all seem to be from middle-eastern descent). A few of them live with their families in the states, so we had fun talking with them. They were spending the night in Phuket and heading to Bangkok as well so hopefully we will meet up with them before the trip is over. They were staying at Patong Beach and we were staying in Phuket Town which aren’t exactly close, so hopefully once we all get to Bangkok we can meet somewhere.
Jess and I had a voucher that we had previously bought for a shuttle to Phuket town. Once we got off of the ferry there was someone waiting who took us directly to our hotel which was nice. The hotel staff were all very friendly and super helpful! We had originally planned on trying to meet up with our Iranian friends and see an elephant and Lady-Boy show called “Fanta-Sea,” but of course there wasn’t a show on that particular night. The hotel staff found out that there is a similar show in Bangkok and got all of the information and wrote it down for us.
We dropped our bags in the room and decided to check out Phuket town. We were a little disappointed, there wasn’t much to see or do there besides see the old mansions which are scattered throughout to town, but aren’t open to tourists and have “private property” signs everywhere. We hopped in a taxi and decided to go to the mall since that was the only place around with a sushi restaurant. We checked it out, but it was SO SO SO overpriced. We found a Sizzler (an American chain that doesn’t exist in the North East) that have a wonderful looking salad bar. We both have felt veggie deprived so we decided to go salad crazy! We each got two big salads with all sorts of good stuff.
After dinner we walked around the mall for a bit. Like I had mentioned before I had burnt my back while I was in Bali, and now the skin has started to peel which looks awful. I have been on the lookout for a loofa or some kind of body scrubber to try to get the dead skin off for days, and finally found on at a pharmacy at the mall.
We were both tired after a long day of traveling so we went back to the room to shower and get ready for our early morning departure. I had been complaining all day about my back being itchy, but had assumed that it had something to do with the fact that I had dead skin that was flaking off. I was excited to finally use the loofa! When I got undressed and looked in the mirror I was horrified. I have the worst rash that I’ve ever had in my life had spread all over my back. Its so red and raw and SOOOOO itchy. After my shower Jess rubbed me down with hydro-cortisone cream, but not much seems to be helping. I might ended up scratching my skin off before too long.
Well off to bed.
Love,
Katie
Friday, November 20, 2009
Life Here is Just a Day at the Beach (with a Side of Sex-Tourism)
WARNING: this Post is Rated PG13
Nov 18th
We slept in till 10am and decided that we should head for the beach. We got a great spot and bought beach chairs for just 50 baht (less than $2USD). We spent the whole day basking in the sun (I am still pealing quite a bit, but enjoyed sitting under the umbrella). We ended up meeting a couple of German boys at the beach and chatting with them for a few hours. We made plans with the German boys for drinks later in the night then headed back to hotel. We showered and got ready for the night. I was able to go to an internet café and skype home and post my scuba video. I also picked up my laundry that Jess had dropped off for me while I went scuba diving- I love clean laundry!
We went to dinner at a Mexican place, it was great. We enjoyed having margaritas- the whole experience was better than the Mexican place in Patong. We met the German boys at 9pm and got a drink with them. Next the four of us headed to the beach and went to a beach party with a fire show that was interesting to watch. They had a fire ring that tourist could jump through and if they did they’d get a free shot. I guess there is no such thing as lawsuits here!
I spend most of the night talking to Marious. He’s an interesting guy. He hates Munich and is there because of his job. He is well paid as a set director and I think makes a ton of money. He told me a lot of interesting things about the film world and I enjoyed all that he had to tell me. We also talked a lot about the Sex-tourism that is very prevalent here in Thailand. Phuket was filled with prostitutes who were harmless to Jess and I since we were females. Marious explained how he and Oliver got massages and had to be very careful not to get anything else (especially STD’s). It seems to be so common in the Thai society. Families expect that their daughters will become prostitutes and makes good money to send back to the family, it’s the way of life here. It’s kind of hard to watch at times, you want to give the girls (who are all very very young- some as young at 15 years old)$30 and tell them to go home, but then again its only one night and you know they’d be back at in the following day- plus its only one girl, there no way you could possible give money to every Thai girl. In Thailand they also have what are known as “Lady-Boys.” These are men who dress as women and are perfect women. Jess and I literally stared to figure out if they are men and women (luckily growing up in a gay beach town where every night is a surprise has trained me well- I have been able to pick out the Lady-Boys a bit easier than the average tourist). Anyways, Thai society is much different than anything I have experience and I couldn’t have predicted it until I was here in person to see it with my own two eyes. Everyone knows that the Chinese want to have boys to carry on the family name (especially since they can only have one child), but in Thailand they seem to want to have girls so that they can become prostitutes and make money for the family. The part that gets me is that fact that prostitution is so normal in this society. It is not hidden and its not shamed upon. Back to the Lady-Boys, these are men who basically want to be prostitutes so they dress as women. We’ve seen several male tourists (mostly Westerners- but perhaps only because they stand out a but more here) think that they were flirting with Thai women (dancing and grinding with them). We’ve seen guys leave the beach with Lady-Boys and not seem to realize that they are actually men. Marious explained to me that he heard that many people (especially European male tourists) have fantasies about sleeping with men, but are too afraid to experiment, but they can easily sleep with Lady-Boys since they look like perfect women but still get to experience being with a man. It’s a whole different world here. This conversation opened my mind to a whole different dynamic of Thailand- those thoughts had never crossed my mind. I guess I’m still in shock that a whole society can revolve around prostitution. All of the hostels and hotels that we stay in have big signs reading “No Thai Women Allowed in Rooms” and “No Lady-Boys!”
After several hours at the beach Jess’s throat started to hurt and so we decided to call it a night and popped in a DVD and fell asleep.
Love, Katie
Nov 18th
We slept in till 10am and decided that we should head for the beach. We got a great spot and bought beach chairs for just 50 baht (less than $2USD). We spent the whole day basking in the sun (I am still pealing quite a bit, but enjoyed sitting under the umbrella). We ended up meeting a couple of German boys at the beach and chatting with them for a few hours. We made plans with the German boys for drinks later in the night then headed back to hotel. We showered and got ready for the night. I was able to go to an internet café and skype home and post my scuba video. I also picked up my laundry that Jess had dropped off for me while I went scuba diving- I love clean laundry!
We went to dinner at a Mexican place, it was great. We enjoyed having margaritas- the whole experience was better than the Mexican place in Patong. We met the German boys at 9pm and got a drink with them. Next the four of us headed to the beach and went to a beach party with a fire show that was interesting to watch. They had a fire ring that tourist could jump through and if they did they’d get a free shot. I guess there is no such thing as lawsuits here!
I spend most of the night talking to Marious. He’s an interesting guy. He hates Munich and is there because of his job. He is well paid as a set director and I think makes a ton of money. He told me a lot of interesting things about the film world and I enjoyed all that he had to tell me. We also talked a lot about the Sex-tourism that is very prevalent here in Thailand. Phuket was filled with prostitutes who were harmless to Jess and I since we were females. Marious explained how he and Oliver got massages and had to be very careful not to get anything else (especially STD’s). It seems to be so common in the Thai society. Families expect that their daughters will become prostitutes and makes good money to send back to the family, it’s the way of life here. It’s kind of hard to watch at times, you want to give the girls (who are all very very young- some as young at 15 years old)$30 and tell them to go home, but then again its only one night and you know they’d be back at in the following day- plus its only one girl, there no way you could possible give money to every Thai girl. In Thailand they also have what are known as “Lady-Boys.” These are men who dress as women and are perfect women. Jess and I literally stared to figure out if they are men and women (luckily growing up in a gay beach town where every night is a surprise has trained me well- I have been able to pick out the Lady-Boys a bit easier than the average tourist). Anyways, Thai society is much different than anything I have experience and I couldn’t have predicted it until I was here in person to see it with my own two eyes. Everyone knows that the Chinese want to have boys to carry on the family name (especially since they can only have one child), but in Thailand they seem to want to have girls so that they can become prostitutes and make money for the family. The part that gets me is that fact that prostitution is so normal in this society. It is not hidden and its not shamed upon. Back to the Lady-Boys, these are men who basically want to be prostitutes so they dress as women. We’ve seen several male tourists (mostly Westerners- but perhaps only because they stand out a but more here) think that they were flirting with Thai women (dancing and grinding with them). We’ve seen guys leave the beach with Lady-Boys and not seem to realize that they are actually men. Marious explained to me that he heard that many people (especially European male tourists) have fantasies about sleeping with men, but are too afraid to experiment, but they can easily sleep with Lady-Boys since they look like perfect women but still get to experience being with a man. It’s a whole different world here. This conversation opened my mind to a whole different dynamic of Thailand- those thoughts had never crossed my mind. I guess I’m still in shock that a whole society can revolve around prostitution. All of the hostels and hotels that we stay in have big signs reading “No Thai Women Allowed in Rooms” and “No Lady-Boys!”
After several hours at the beach Jess’s throat started to hurt and so we decided to call it a night and popped in a DVD and fell asleep.
Love, Katie
Thursday, November 19, 2009
“Scuba for You?”
Nov 17th
The alarm went off right at 7am this morning. I jumped out of bed eager to scuba dive. I grabbed a yogurt at 7-11 and was on my way. On the way to the shop at least a dozen people ask, “scuba for you?” trying to sell me last minute trips on their boats. I smiled very pleased to be going, I met my scuba guide as well as the other people from the company and we left the scuba shop at 7:30am and walked to the pier only to discover that the boat was broken. It seems that this is a common happening here and didn’t seem to affect any of the boats crew or the scuba instructors. Everyone helped and we loaded our scuba stuff onto a different boat. I found out later that all of the companies on the island have a strong connection. Our group was going to the same place as a different boat so we just jumped on with them, “No Problem Man.” I was the only American on the boat. The scuba instructors and other divers were mostly all from Europe (London, Ireland, and Holland). My instructor, John, was from London, he was a nice guy in his 30’s who was sick of London and fell in love with Thailand. He is here as a student learning Thai. Every weekend he has to take 4 hours worth of Thai lessons and he is allowed to stay here and do whatever he pleases during the rest of the time. He said that when the customs officials asked if he works here, he says that he is only studying. Laws are definitely not the same here, and no one seems to care about illegal workers. In several of the restaurant we saw “help wanted” signs. Jess and I both have pondered the idea of staying and working.
John had a great picture book with all of the sea life that we may see on our dive and spend nearly 30 minutes describing everything to be, along with his hand symbols for all of the animals. I found this all very interesting. Next we got geared up and before I knew it we were ready for our dive off of Bida Nok! We jumped off the boat and made our descent. We had a great dive. I was very excited to see my first shark- a leopard shark which basically just sits on the bottom of the ocean. Leopard sharks don’t have any teeth, so it wasn’t scary, I got up close! We also saw a hawksbill turtle, boxfish, a snake eel, a bearded scorpion fish, a white eyed moray eel, and a chevron barracuda! We dove for nearly an hour and I enjoyed every moment of it. We had lunch and spend an hour of the boat to even out our nitrogen levels. I was very excited that we stopped to have lunch at Maya Bay. Maya Bay Beach is where the movie “ The Beach” was filmed. This was the movie that made me fall in love with Thailand, so it was great to see it in person I loved it! Our second dive, off of Malong, was equally was exciting. I swam through my first (and second) cave which was very neat. I had to make sure to kick carefully. If I kicked too wide I’d cut my legs. On this dive we saw several Hawksbill turtles, this time we got to see them eating the bubble coral which was really neat. We even saw one turtle that was missing a limb- wonder what happened to that poor little guy. We also saw clownfish, Harlequin Sweetlips, Jan’s Pipefish, Blue Ringer and Emperor Angelfish, Hermot crabs, and Titan Triggerfish. After the dive we headed back to the pier. I loved the whole experience. John got some great pictures and a few great movies on his camera, so I got suckered into buying a DVD which he burned for me for $!000 Baht.
I met Jess back at the Hotel around 1:30pm and we still had plenty of daylight and decided to take advantage of it. We grabbed our towels and were off to the beach. We decided that our time would be best spend on a long boat tour. We jumped on the 3pm sunset cruise and were off. Our first stop was at Monkey Island, which was obviously filled with Monkeys, and fun to watch.
Next we were off to Maya Bay Beach and got to spend some time enjoying where “The Beach” was filmed. We learned that all of the set was destroyed during the tsunami, which was too bad. The beach was beautiful, but it was quite obvious that it was built as a tourist spot after it became famous from the movie. We were at the beach for about 10 minutes and it started to downpour, just our luck. I think it was hardest and heaviest rain that I’ve ever been in. Many people took shelter under the rocks/side of the mountain, and some went into the water because the water was so much warmer than the air.
Jess and I decided to venture back to the boat and took cover under the small awning. This ended up being a horrible idea, because we got soaked getting to the boat and once we were under the awing we discovered that the rain was coming down so hard that there was no escaping it. We continued to sit and get soaked for nearly an hour while we waited for everyone to get back onto the longboat. Our next stop was a snorkeling stop. I was so cold, and since the water was warmer decided to get in.
I got some pictures with my underwater camera and warmed up a bit. Our ride back to Ko Phi Phi was choppy and freezing. We never did get to see the sunset. We were glad that we had splurged on the hot water shower and went back to the room to warm up.
After showering we went to a place called Papaya for dinner. I had pad thai for dinner again and loved it equally as much. We sat with two German girls who were very friendly and we shared travel stories. It was a great dinner. We were both exhausted from a long day in the sun and rain and went back to watch another DVD and call it a night.
Bye for now,
Love,
Katie.
The alarm went off right at 7am this morning. I jumped out of bed eager to scuba dive. I grabbed a yogurt at 7-11 and was on my way. On the way to the shop at least a dozen people ask, “scuba for you?” trying to sell me last minute trips on their boats. I smiled very pleased to be going, I met my scuba guide as well as the other people from the company and we left the scuba shop at 7:30am and walked to the pier only to discover that the boat was broken. It seems that this is a common happening here and didn’t seem to affect any of the boats crew or the scuba instructors. Everyone helped and we loaded our scuba stuff onto a different boat. I found out later that all of the companies on the island have a strong connection. Our group was going to the same place as a different boat so we just jumped on with them, “No Problem Man.” I was the only American on the boat. The scuba instructors and other divers were mostly all from Europe (London, Ireland, and Holland). My instructor, John, was from London, he was a nice guy in his 30’s who was sick of London and fell in love with Thailand. He is here as a student learning Thai. Every weekend he has to take 4 hours worth of Thai lessons and he is allowed to stay here and do whatever he pleases during the rest of the time. He said that when the customs officials asked if he works here, he says that he is only studying. Laws are definitely not the same here, and no one seems to care about illegal workers. In several of the restaurant we saw “help wanted” signs. Jess and I both have pondered the idea of staying and working.
John had a great picture book with all of the sea life that we may see on our dive and spend nearly 30 minutes describing everything to be, along with his hand symbols for all of the animals. I found this all very interesting. Next we got geared up and before I knew it we were ready for our dive off of Bida Nok! We jumped off the boat and made our descent. We had a great dive. I was very excited to see my first shark- a leopard shark which basically just sits on the bottom of the ocean. Leopard sharks don’t have any teeth, so it wasn’t scary, I got up close! We also saw a hawksbill turtle, boxfish, a snake eel, a bearded scorpion fish, a white eyed moray eel, and a chevron barracuda! We dove for nearly an hour and I enjoyed every moment of it. We had lunch and spend an hour of the boat to even out our nitrogen levels. I was very excited that we stopped to have lunch at Maya Bay. Maya Bay Beach is where the movie “ The Beach” was filmed. This was the movie that made me fall in love with Thailand, so it was great to see it in person I loved it! Our second dive, off of Malong, was equally was exciting. I swam through my first (and second) cave which was very neat. I had to make sure to kick carefully. If I kicked too wide I’d cut my legs. On this dive we saw several Hawksbill turtles, this time we got to see them eating the bubble coral which was really neat. We even saw one turtle that was missing a limb- wonder what happened to that poor little guy. We also saw clownfish, Harlequin Sweetlips, Jan’s Pipefish, Blue Ringer and Emperor Angelfish, Hermot crabs, and Titan Triggerfish. After the dive we headed back to the pier. I loved the whole experience. John got some great pictures and a few great movies on his camera, so I got suckered into buying a DVD which he burned for me for $!000 Baht.
I met Jess back at the Hotel around 1:30pm and we still had plenty of daylight and decided to take advantage of it. We grabbed our towels and were off to the beach. We decided that our time would be best spend on a long boat tour. We jumped on the 3pm sunset cruise and were off. Our first stop was at Monkey Island, which was obviously filled with Monkeys, and fun to watch.
Next we were off to Maya Bay Beach and got to spend some time enjoying where “The Beach” was filmed. We learned that all of the set was destroyed during the tsunami, which was too bad. The beach was beautiful, but it was quite obvious that it was built as a tourist spot after it became famous from the movie. We were at the beach for about 10 minutes and it started to downpour, just our luck. I think it was hardest and heaviest rain that I’ve ever been in. Many people took shelter under the rocks/side of the mountain, and some went into the water because the water was so much warmer than the air.
Jess and I decided to venture back to the boat and took cover under the small awning. This ended up being a horrible idea, because we got soaked getting to the boat and once we were under the awing we discovered that the rain was coming down so hard that there was no escaping it. We continued to sit and get soaked for nearly an hour while we waited for everyone to get back onto the longboat. Our next stop was a snorkeling stop. I was so cold, and since the water was warmer decided to get in.
I got some pictures with my underwater camera and warmed up a bit. Our ride back to Ko Phi Phi was choppy and freezing. We never did get to see the sunset. We were glad that we had splurged on the hot water shower and went back to the room to warm up.
After showering we went to a place called Papaya for dinner. I had pad thai for dinner again and loved it equally as much. We sat with two German girls who were very friendly and we shared travel stories. It was a great dinner. We were both exhausted from a long day in the sun and rain and went back to watch another DVD and call it a night.
Bye for now,
Love,
Katie.
Third World Differences.
November 16th
I rolled over at 5:15 this morning and Jess was sitting up in bed. She wasn’t feeling well at all and she decided that she needed to go to the hospital. We stayed in bed until 6:30am thinking that we'd have better luck getting in right at 7am. We had to walk a bit to find a taxi and were surprised how quiet everything was- all closed up. The taxi charged us $200 Baht ($7 USD) and the drive ended up being less than half a mile, I was annoyed. We walked into the hospital to find only one woman behind the front desk. She told us that the doctors didn’t arrived 8:30am and didn’t see any patients much before 9am, even in the emergency room. I guess no one in Phuket can seriously ill between 9pm and 9am. We walked back to the hostel, it was hot at this point, and we were both dripping with sweat by the time we arrived. I climbed back into bed and Jess went on the internet to kill some time. At 8:30am we went down stairs and the owner of the hostel, Robin, offered to drive us back to the hospital in his car. He really is such great guy, I hope his business does well.
As we entered the hospital we were greeted by an older man who spoke English he showed us how to check in and explained how the whole process worked. Although it was clearly a third-world hospital, we were relieved that at least there was a “Westerner” who greeted us and spoke fluent English. We sat and waited about forty-five minutes to speak with a nurse then went back to the waiting area. About 20 minutes later Jess was called in by the doctor and examined. Turns out she has tonsillitis and was prescribed four different medicines to help with the pain and to help her get better. We walked back to the hostel, making a stop at Au Bon Pain to grab a sandwich and the ticket agency to get our pickup time to the ferry changed because we had missed the first boat that we were planning on taking. We had about 2 hours to kill so we ate our lunch in the room and did some research on Ko Phi Phi.
We got picked up by a mini van at 1pm for our 2:30pm ferry. The mini ran was interesting. We were the last two people to be picked up so there was very little room for us. There wasn’t anymore room left in the back for our bags so the driver put them on the top of the van and used our backpack straps to tie them down. I worried the whole ride as we zig-zagged up and down the narrow roads that our bags would be long gone. Luckily we arrived safely and so did our luggage. The ferry ride was an hour and forty-five minutes. Jess and I both quickly fell asleep, we were both exhausted being up so early.
When we arrived at Phi Phi Don we walked off the pier and were instantly bombarded by tour groups trying to sell us everything from longboat rides to hotel rooms. We had done research and decided it would be easier to get a room once we arrived on the island, but we weren’t expecting this. We stopped and talked with a couple different agencies who each showed us cheap rooms, then said that that particular hotel was full and tried to sell us a more expensive place. We really didn’t want to spend more than $1000Bath a night ($33USD) a night and wanted AC and Hot water (both are hard to find on this island). The agencies said that this type of room didn’t exist at the price we wanted and kept saying that it was the busy season so it was more expensive. Annoyed and sweaty we decided to walk around with our heavy packs and see what else we could find. As we started walking with our bags we quickly started to realize that almost all of the buildings had rooms available upstairs. We popped into a few places that wanted to charge us $1200Baht, but decided to keep walking. We finally came to Pirates Hotel, which is a place that my mom had read about on TripAdvisor and suggested that we say at. The owner quickly came running out to us as soon as he saw our backpacks and offered to show us a room he had available for $1000Baht. We were pleased that it was clean and everything that we wanted. Relieved we threw down our bags and showered. We got changed, paid for the room, and decided to get a lay of the area. We were very surprised how small this island actually is. More accurately, how small the portion of the island that is inhibited is. The map that everyone gave us made the place look huge, but in reality you can walk through the whole town in less than 5 minutes. Our first stop was at a scuba shop where I booked a trip with two dives! I’m so excited about it. I was shocked when I got off of the boat and realized how popular scuba diving is here. For such a small town there has to be at least 30 scuba shops. Its unbelievable.
It started to get dark and we were both hungry so we got dinner at a restaurant called “Sammies.” Sammie is the owner and he was nearly killed in the tsunami that hit Ko Phi Phi on Dec 26th, 2005. He was buried under 3 meters of rubble and it was nearly 3 days until anyone found him. It was shocking for us to see all of the pictures that are so prevalent in this town of the destruction done to this town by a huge wave. The food was delicious, I had my first Pad Thai dish here and it was 10 times better than anything that I’ve had at home. I also had a banana smoothie that cost just over a dollar and was the best smoothie that I’d ever tasted. My whole meal was less than $4USD- god I love Thailand! Feeling full and exhausted we decided to call it a night. We walked back to the hotel room. We were handed half a dozen flyers on our walk home advertising different bars and parties that were just getting started. We were excited to check out the night life, but since Jess really wasn’t feeling good and didn’t want to drink with her new medicine, and I had to be up before 7am for my scuba dive we decided to call it a night. The owner of our restaurant rents DVD players so we decided to rent one and watched one of the movies we bought it Bali. It was a perfect ending to the day.
Bye for now.
Love,
Katie.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
One Month Down…
Nov 15th
Its official we’ve been traveling a month! It has flown by but every second has been wonderful! I can’t believe we’re actually in Thailand and that this is the last leg of our Asian trip and that I’ll be saying goodbye to Jess in just over a week.
The alarm went off early today at 7am, but we were so excited for elephant trekking that we didn’t seem to notice. Our first stop of the day was at Khao Lak tropical forest National Park where we went bamboo rafting and elephant trekking. The little river we went down had some small rapids and I didn’t think we’d make it, but we did, we just got a little wet. I now feel very confident that if I am ever stranded on a desert island that I could easily construct one of these boats to save myself! Our tour guide for the rafting portion liked to point everything out to us - frogs, fish, and coconuts- and giant spiders, which scared us a bit.
Our elephant trek through the woods was quicker than I thought but I still enjoyed it! The only thing I didn’t like was how our guide treated the elephants. He had a wooded stick with a small axe on the end and a very sharp nail too and would hit the elephant or stick the nail into its head if it stopped to eat leaves or walked the wrong way. The way they treat animals here is very different and hard to watch. I was disgusted by the way the guide treated the elephant, Jess and I kept squirming and didn’t know what to do, we sure felt bad for him.
After this we went to a Royal Navy Battle Ship site and saw a boat that had been anchored off the coast when the tsunami hit and threw it 2km inland. We saw so many pictures of the tsunami and the damage but they cleaned up and rebuilt fast and if you didn’t know, you would have no idea the whole island had been devastated by a tsunami 5 years ago. I hear that the Phi Phi islands had the most damage done from the tsunami I will be interested to see how quickly they rebuild when we get there.
We had lunch at a Thai seafood restaurant on the beach. We had Shrimp and fish coconut milk soup, cashew chicken and chicken with chili. All so good! We spent a little time at the beach there then went to a turtle farm, where they call clown fish nemos, and then to a cashew factory. It was more of a store where we could sample different types of cashews - honeyed, salted, chocolate covered, sesame brittle - and dried fruit too! They even had cashew soda, which is one of the strangest things I’ve ever had. I was kind of annoyed because I hate when you spend money on a tour and they bring you to shops where you feel pressured to buy things. I think the guide sensed that we were annoyed and gathered the group and we were off.
Rubber trees are everywhere here and we saw a few rubber tree tapings. Our tour guide also told us that in Thailand the people use bio-diesel, which is 5% palm oil (from a palm tree) and this is why gas is so much cheaper here. I found this festinating and such a smart idea! I wish in America we could find some kind of substance that we could add to the gasoline to make it cheaper and last longer!
Tonight we celebrated our 1 month of traveling together and went out for Mexican food and Margaritas. Then we went shopping and walked around for a while. Tomorrow morning we are off to Kho Phi Phi Island for a few days!
Love,
Katie
Its official we’ve been traveling a month! It has flown by but every second has been wonderful! I can’t believe we’re actually in Thailand and that this is the last leg of our Asian trip and that I’ll be saying goodbye to Jess in just over a week.
The alarm went off early today at 7am, but we were so excited for elephant trekking that we didn’t seem to notice. Our first stop of the day was at Khao Lak tropical forest National Park where we went bamboo rafting and elephant trekking. The little river we went down had some small rapids and I didn’t think we’d make it, but we did, we just got a little wet. I now feel very confident that if I am ever stranded on a desert island that I could easily construct one of these boats to save myself! Our tour guide for the rafting portion liked to point everything out to us - frogs, fish, and coconuts- and giant spiders, which scared us a bit.
Our elephant trek through the woods was quicker than I thought but I still enjoyed it! The only thing I didn’t like was how our guide treated the elephants. He had a wooded stick with a small axe on the end and a very sharp nail too and would hit the elephant or stick the nail into its head if it stopped to eat leaves or walked the wrong way. The way they treat animals here is very different and hard to watch. I was disgusted by the way the guide treated the elephant, Jess and I kept squirming and didn’t know what to do, we sure felt bad for him.
After this we went to a Royal Navy Battle Ship site and saw a boat that had been anchored off the coast when the tsunami hit and threw it 2km inland. We saw so many pictures of the tsunami and the damage but they cleaned up and rebuilt fast and if you didn’t know, you would have no idea the whole island had been devastated by a tsunami 5 years ago. I hear that the Phi Phi islands had the most damage done from the tsunami I will be interested to see how quickly they rebuild when we get there.
We had lunch at a Thai seafood restaurant on the beach. We had Shrimp and fish coconut milk soup, cashew chicken and chicken with chili. All so good! We spent a little time at the beach there then went to a turtle farm, where they call clown fish nemos, and then to a cashew factory. It was more of a store where we could sample different types of cashews - honeyed, salted, chocolate covered, sesame brittle - and dried fruit too! They even had cashew soda, which is one of the strangest things I’ve ever had. I was kind of annoyed because I hate when you spend money on a tour and they bring you to shops where you feel pressured to buy things. I think the guide sensed that we were annoyed and gathered the group and we were off.
Rubber trees are everywhere here and we saw a few rubber tree tapings. Our tour guide also told us that in Thailand the people use bio-diesel, which is 5% palm oil (from a palm tree) and this is why gas is so much cheaper here. I found this festinating and such a smart idea! I wish in America we could find some kind of substance that we could add to the gasoline to make it cheaper and last longer!
Tonight we celebrated our 1 month of traveling together and went out for Mexican food and Margaritas. Then we went shopping and walked around for a while. Tomorrow morning we are off to Kho Phi Phi Island for a few days!
Love,
Katie
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