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Published: January 11th 2010
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My trip really started behind the back of the Coast Town Centre hotel, where Monqiue and I said our goodbyes to the backdrop of a beautiful Powell River morning. After a relatively short bus ride down to Vancouver, I did some minor travel preperations then met up with Keenan and Blake. We went out for Sushi downtown and went and watched Avatar in 3d. It was good to catch up with the boys and we had a good night. Unfortunately, it was a late night, and that night, the night before the big travel I only got 4 hours of sleep. I guess I should be greatful,because those would be the only hours of sleep I got for the next 24 hours.
Bus->Airport->Plane->Airport->Plane->3 hour mile high nap->Airport->Taxi->Hostel->Sleep.
That's the jist, with a few interesting notes. Some people I met along the way.
- Curtis King: And a king he was. He and his wife Helen were heading to Florida for a little vacation and being a former merchant marine he had a wealth of information about Asia and was keen on sharing.
- 2xCanadian Travellers on Seattle bus: I've got a feeling I'm gonna see them again...
- 2xThai
People returning to USA: One guy was living in USA for 7 years and returning home, the other a US resident making his annual trip
- 2xUSA girls: First time travelling to Asia, they're in for a real shocker. I gave them some heads up that I think really helped them out. They had a friend of a friend of a friend meet them at the airport. The one girl accidentally took the wrong back, and I think they're still sorting out their lives.
- Canadian in Taxi: Just some jabroni who was heading to Khao San Road to share a cab with.
Okay, so Air Asiana was pretty good. Decent food, okay on plane service, seats were nice, the seat TV's were fairly weak sauce and it seems that the planes were really catoring to Koreans tourists. But, all-in-all well worth the value. I had a great moment just as we touched down in Bangkok. About 30 minutes before i had beckoned the guy beside me to take a look at an amazing sight. The moon outside was all but a crescent and looked so cool. It was weird though, it had an unusual little dark spot covering
part of it. And we touched down, and I had some buildings as frame of reference, I discovered that I really wasn't a moon at all, but the light on the tip of the plane. wow. Okay, so at this point I'd been travelling for 27 hours. Gimme a break.
Bangkok. Immediately your clothes are sticking to you its so humid, even at night. Once down in Khao San Road, all the smells, sights, and people just brought my travel experience alive. I've spent the last few days adjusting to the time difference, sleeping a few hours here and there, with only last night having a real sleep.
I've also taken the opportunity to do some shopping for some necessary items, which has meant a lot of walking down Khao San bartering, and a very successful trip to MBK mall. On Sunday I took the riverboat down to China Town, where I got totally lost. Only to eventually find my way to the skytrain station, where a local High School student who spoke some english, pretty much held my hand all theway to the weekend market.
JJ Market, the weekend Market. Amazing. Said to be one of
the biggest markets in the world, it has something for everyone. I ended up being so overwhelmed that I only bought a pair of sandles and some quality donairs. I spent a good deal of time in the Animal section, and have videos to prove it. Crazy exotic animals in every ally. A whole ally with 1-3 month old puppies of all variety, just waiting to be petted.
Between these moments, there's been beer changs, pad thai (from my favorite vendor who is still operating, and still selling the best $1 pad thai I've ever had), partying, meeting randoms, cold refreshing guesthouse showers, 6am temple gong + gecko/rooster combo wakeups, serious thai massage, sang som, and as many visits to air conditioned places that I can find (including Khao San Roads McDonalds, where I had myself a Mc Samurai Burger and a Ham and chicken fried pie)
So, with all my gear finally assembled and a few hood nights of Khao San Road and Bangkok under my belt. I've booked a ticket to nearby Ko Samet. An unlikely destination, and I was really torn between there and Ko Chang, which I may end up seeing. But, Ko Chang
is all the way to the Cambodian border, and serious backtracking would be required to get back in the travel loop. So, Ko Samet it is. I leave tomorrow morning at 8a.m. and by 1pm I should be laying in some pure white sand soaking up these 35 degree rays of golden sunshine.
Thats it for now. Sawatdeeeeee!
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Brodus
Brodus
Added Note:
Photos to come as soon as I get organized!