We've added some more pictures

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Hey Everyone,

ok, here we go. Beth has given me the privlage to write this small blog so I better
not screw up to bad.

the last time we blogged we were in Bangkock, we have left there and now we are in Koh
Toa, a small island in the gulf of Thailand.

We had three nights in Bangkock to get a feel of the city. I would describe Bangkock as dirty, tons of traffic/polution, street vendors everywhere, and those blinking neon signs everywhere. It is very intersting they really do live a different life over here. We went to a Thai boxing match one night and had a blast. Thai boxing is very intense and brutal. They wear these boxing gloves but most any punch and kick is legal except for head butting and groin kicks. They are 5 rounds that last 3 minutes a piece. I don't know if they could go much longer because they really beat the hell out of each other. We saw a couple of guys get knocked out and they brought the stretcher out but they both managed to get up on their own. They have the stretcher right next to the ring because people get knocked out all the time, like I said an evil and brutal sport. We went to the match on Sunday and I guess its the night of the week where the younger kids have at it, by younger I mean 13 and up. We really didn't feel right watching some 13 year olds battle it out, but it was no big deal to them. then we got excited because the next day we left for Koh Toa!!



We got to Koa Toa by an over night train from Bangkock to Chumphan (not sure of spelling but close enough) and we got in at 5am. It was good though because you had your own bed and we slept through most of it. Then we got on a ferry boat that took us out to the island. We made no reservations or anything we just "winged it". When we arrived we were horded with people telling us that we should stay with them or how great their place was and so on. We just walked right through and grabbed a taxi and went to the south bay of the island and started walking and checking places out. We had to find a place with A/C because it is really hot and humid at the moment. We found a place right away and took it. It's right next to the ocean and has a cool restrauant attached. We noticed right away that in almost every establishment you have to take off your shoes and walk bare foot. It's kinda cool because they are really laid back and very nice people. We love this island, it is less touristy and you get a real feel of what it's like to live on a small island. We love it here, everything is cheap, I mean really cheap. The exchange rate is 40 to 1. You gotta love that. For an example tonight we had dinner at "The famous home made thai cuisine" We both got a coke and I got a fresh bannana shake. We each had a main dish and then we got a dessert. the total came to 300 baht, which is like 7.50 usd!!!

today we rented a Scooter and cruised around the island to check everything out. They don't keep up their roads here so you really have to watch out where you are going. The scooter only costed 3 dollars for a full 24 hours! Anyway we wanted to get to another part of the island and we took this crazy dirt road to get their and boy that was a mistake. After 10 grueling minutes of the worst roads imaginable we crashed the scooter!!! not to bad though, I lost control of the front end and we fell off, I had a few cuts and beth bruised her calf. We picked up the scooter and looked it over and it looked fine. When we returned it though the guy knew instanly and he asked us about it and of course we played dumb and said heck no we didn't do anything to it. Well after about 10 minutes we settled on 650 baht for damages, so I gave him 550 and said thats all I had and he took it and said something in thai that I'm sure was not very nice..... oh well!!

All right I thought this was going to be short, sorry about that. Anyway we love it here and don't really want to move anywhere soon, the beaches are awesome with white soft sand, and the food is awesome. We actually get excited to eat and try new things.

Hope everything is well at home and hopefully you understood this blog 😊 We love the comments so keep them comming.


P.S. we just uploaded as many pics as we could, the internet was very slow, so check them out and let us know what you think!!!!

Justin and Beth

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Comments

[Jay]

Taking advantage of poor Thai people.
Nice job Justin. You wreck the poor guy's scooter and then you screw him by paying him 5 bucks to fix it. Nice. He'll just have to eat dirt tonight, but that's OK right? ;-)

[Gisele]

Photos
Thanks for the pics. Rodney and I have been enjoying hearing from you. Where to after Thailand?

[Chris]

Amazing Experiences!
Hi Beth and Justin, I’ve been reading all your blogs over the last while but haven’t had a chance to write to you. Been flat out here in work. You are both having such an amazing experience, I had a look at the photographs earlier and they looked stunning, especially your African ones, what an experience! And was that really beer in that bucket you were drinking Beth!! Well done on the Bungee, not sure if I would ever do that, 5 seconds freefalling, not a chance. I think I would have had five heart attacks before the bungee started bouncing. Justin, good job on the blog, it was very evocative. Also, that experience with the sharks sounded really class. Did you not hear the Jaws music in your head, I would have. I went as a charity rep on our 4 peaks Ireland challenge recently. We had to climb the highest mountain in each of Ireland’s 4 provinces over 4 days. It was pretty tough (especially as the climbers liked a drink in the evenings) but we all had a blast. Carmen was left in Belfast just as it went stark raving nuts. There were serious riots and violence for about a week, over an Orange Parade. Our house is in a safe area but Carmen is working out by the flashpoint of the worst rioting. So you’re now on the other side of the world, I’m sure the culture shock is quite noticeable but those prices sound fantastic. If it wasn’t so expensive to get there, Carmen and myself could go for a few weeks. Some of those apartments you’ve been staying in look amazing (makes up for some of the shitholes in Europe!) When you get home you’re going to have itchy feet forever, we’ll have to get you over to Ireland for a visit. Hope you guys aren’t feeling too homesick and Justin isn’t still winning all the time at chess. Looking forward to your next blog, All the best Chris

[MaDonna]

Our hero
Beth, you are our new hero. We are all in awe of your bungee jump!! I'm glad you're loving your trip. The area sounds wonderful. You've had experiences to last a lifetime. Keep up the great commentary and take care.

[Jim]

Pictures
Who took that picture of the monkey with blue balls? Reminded me of my Grand Forks winter travels.